Tuesday, February 11

Hamas has delayed the latest hostage release after claiming that Israel had violated the terms of their ceasefire agreement, sparking outrage across Israel and the United States.

The current ceasefire deal was negotiated by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt in the Qatari capital of Doha, and it took effect on January 19. The deal secured the release of 33 Israeli hostages from Hamas and over 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israel, as well as establishing that Israel would need to remove all of their forces from the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire is supposed to last for 42 days, and yesterday was the halfway point in those six weeks of peace.

Now, Hamas maintains possession of around 76 hostages who are still in captivity, and Israel will need to work on extending the ceasefire to get these hostages back from Gaza. However, Hamas has delayed the latest round of hostage releases after claiming that Israel violated the agreement.

Hamas claims that Israel has been continuing airstrikes and targeting Palestinian citizens with gunfire, as well as falling short on their promises to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel responded that they have done no such thing, and they have instructed their military to be on the highest alert in case of attacks. They have confirmed, though, that they will hold up their end of the agreement.

Nevertheless, that all changed when the United States intervened. President Trump quickly entered negotiations and ordered Hamas to send back not just the three hostages they planned to return but all of the remaining hostages by Saturday at noon.

The decision was met with mixed reactions from people, with some calling it the right move and others describing it as an "ultimatum." While Israel agreed with his statement, numerous other countries have strongly disagreed with Trump's intervention, saying that the agreement has been carefully planned out and is extremely fragile. They have maintained that threatening others does not get everyone what they want, and the current ceasefire deal has been working well.

So far, 18 hostages have been returned to Israel and they have sent back 730 Palestinian prisoners in exchange-- and negotiations over the next phase of the agreement were slated to begin sometime later this week. However, Hamas' postponement and Trump's introduction of his own deadline have made it tough to predict what will happen next.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): There are around 2 billion species on Earth, with 6.8 million of those likely to be species of insects. And up to 10 types of bacteria lives inside of each of these insects!

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm. (S.A. Jefferson-Wright)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Vestige (noun, VESS-tij) - A vestige is a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something lost or vanished.

In a Sentence: The ruins here are the last vestiges of the Roman occupation in this part of Britain.