The militant group Hamas stated on Thursday that it will follow through with its plan to release three more Israeli hostages thus lowering the threat level toward the unstable ceasefire in Gaza. Shortly before this announcement the militant group had warned Israel about postponing the hostage release because Israel failed to let vital supplies including medical support and tents into Gaza.
Mediation between Egypt and Qatar led to solving the dispute and it resulted in the subsequent Hamas announcement. The Egyptian media showed trucks delivering temporary shelters together with bulldozers moving toward the Gaza Strip as Hamas began receiving its requested resources. The long-term viability of the current ceasefire is uncertain because a rocket attack from Gaza occurred on Thursday marking the first time since January.
In its second month the ceasefire has provided the release of 131 hostages from the total 251 hostages who were abducted by Hamas during their October 7, 2023 offensive against Israel. Currently 73 people have yet to be freed among the holding hostages yet about half of them are believed to be dead. Women and children comprise most of the 48,000 Palestinian casualties while the conflict forced 90% of Gaza’s inhabitants to flee their homes. 
The proposal of former U.S. President Donald Trump to relocate 2 million Palestinians from Gaza has received strong opposition from Arab nations as well as human rights organizations. The proposed plan of former US President Donald Trump came under criticism by Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan who called it a menace to worldwide peace and Yemen’s Houthi leader threatened military interference should the proposal advance.
The first phase of the ceasefire approaches March without any clear direction about what will happen next. The situation remains dangerously unbalanced as Israel warns about new assaults if all hostages remain captive but Hamas refuses to continue prisoner exchanges.
