It happens that the warring sides find themselves again in the position of negotiating for a ceasefire and a release of hostages. The deal itself has been endorsed by Biden, it being an Israeli offer for Hamas which, for what it’s worth and from everything that we are being presented in the public space, the provisions of the deal, or some version or brief of it, might seem the closest one to peace that has been brought forward.

It is yet again, unfortunately, in vain for the moment since it seems that both sides are not too keen on going forward and both sides believe that they might actually have the upper hand in the proceedings of this war. It was accepted by a part of the Hamas leadership however, but not the actual leadership that matters – we are referring to Sinwar, of course. Hamas has indeed sent it back with more claims and modifications which have been deemed by Blinken as not likely to be agreed upon by the Israeli side.

Hamas is fluidly changing the goals, while some parts of this potential deal mention that the Israelis are willing to release 30-40-50 Hamas prisoners, which have been convicted for various deeds, from prison, in exchange for just 1 hostage. A total of 33 hostages in the first stage.

It is still a game. A game that has been going on for too long and, in the meantime, the civilians are getting the worst of it. Time is not something that either side has in these terms, because more time causes needless suffering and casualties.

There have also been accusations from Netanyahu that the deal presented and endorsed by President Biden might be something different than what the Israelis have put forward, which turned out to be false, according to multiple involved sources. As the father of Greek tragedy, Aeschylus, is attributed to saying: “In war, truth is the first tragedy”. The far-right side of Netanyahu’s government had been issuing threats that if the current deal would be put forward and agreed upon, then they would leave, but it was actually Benny Gantz and his party did just that.

While all this was happening though, the IDF managed to pull off an operation to rescue four hostages from the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, but it came at the cost of many casualties recorded in the Palestinian camp, with the numbers ranging between less than 100, to 300, depending on the sources. This operation did indeed flare up the international community, with many accusing the IDF of causing too many casualties among the civilians but, as it stands, the hostages were sheltered among civilians by the terrorist organization.

It is incredibly hard to come to terms that in this war, civilians and hostages are used as pawns on the board and negotiated upon. The international organizations which have been created after the second world war were meant to interdict exactly this kind of scenario, of Thucydides’ “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”.

Frustration is building up in the international sphere since Hamas’s refusal and amendments will only drag on the hostilities, all the while the IDF is continuing its operations, its advances into Rafah and the expansion of its plans to root out the organization members which have participated in the October 7 massacre.

Southern, central and northern Gaza are all experiencing heavy fighting and strikes while northern Israel is also suffering its share of bombing/rocket strikes, with more than 200 rockets fired by Hezbollah on the 12th of June in response for the elimination of an important high-ranking officer by the IDF.

According to UNRWA’s report, almost all of the refugees have fled Rafah, with less than 100.000 still remaining in the area. On the 6th of June, OCHA reported that a UNRWA school located in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp was struck overnight and multiple casualties were reported.