JERUSALEM, Occupied Territories: Zionist entity faces mounting pressure to extend a four-day pause in its war against Hamas. After hours of delay and acrimony that underscored the fragility of the truce, a second tranche of 13 Zionist hostages was freed on Saturday by Hamas in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners—the same number as the previous day.

A total of 15 foreigners have also been released during the ceasefire—mediated for weeks by Qatar, the United States and Egypt—that marks the first breakthrough after seven weeks of relentless war.

Under the deal, 50 of the roughly 240 hostages held by Hamas will be freed over four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, with a built-in extension mechanism to prolong the process as long as at least 10 Zionist entity captives are released each day.

That increases the number of hostages returned—and there is strong domestic pressure within Zionist entity to do so—but gives Hamas a longer window in which to regroup, recover, re-arm and ultimately return to the fight, analysts say. It also increases diplomatic pressure on Zionist entity from the international community, which will become steadily less willing to countenance a return to the pounding of Gaza and the resulting humanitarian crisis.

“Time works against Zionist entity as always and against the IDF,” said Andreas Krieg, of King’s College London, referring to the Zionist entity military. “On one hand you want all the hostages out knowing that you can’t get them out militarily and on the other you don’t want to lose completely the momentum of this war,” he told AFP.

And the longer a truce lasted, he said, the more the international community would lose patience with a continuation of the war, he added. But the Zionist entity’s military is determined to pursue its objective of “crushing” Hamas. Visiting Zionist entity

Zionist entity has defied international criticism of its Gaza offensive, which its Hamas rulers say has killed more than 15,000 people, mostly civilians, and left an unprecedented trail of destruction in the Palestinian territory. “The real pressure to prolong the truce comes from inside Zionist entity—from the families of the hostages,” said Arik Rudnitzky, from Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of demonstrators packed the streets of Tel Aviv in support of the remaining hostages, chanting “Now, now, now, all of them now!” and clutching banners that read “Get them out of hell”. A Zionist entity military official said the country was committed to freeing as many hostages as possible but expressed concern that the longer the truce lasts the more time Hamas has to “rebuild its capabilities and attack Zionist entity again”.

“It’s a terrible dilemma,” he told AFP, requesting anonymity.

The lead mediator in the negotiations for the pause in the fighting has been Qatar, whose foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told AFP there was a need to “maintain the momentum” for a lasting ceasefire. “That can only be done when you have political will not only from the Zionist entity’s and Palestinians but also with the other partners who are working with us.”

US President Joe Biden, a staunch ally of Zionist entity, on Friday said “the chances are real” for extending the truce, as he urged a broader effort to achieve a two-state solution with a viable Palestinian state existing alongside Zionist entity. With a presidential election next year, there was no stomach in Washington for a prolonged intensive operation “for months and months on end”, said Krieg of King’s College London. “So the Biden administration needs to find an off ramp as well”. “There isn’t a military solution to the conflict, you cannot win this,” he added. - AFP