Will the ceasefire last? Divisions in Israel

Israeli aircraft struck Gaza City targets this week, after Hamas attacks involving rocket-propelled grenades and sniper fire killed an Israeli reserve soldier. The Israeli government emphasizes that Israel will respond firmly to any breach of the agreement. These incidents underscore the fragile nature of the ceasefire and the complex dynamics at play.

Hamas is playing a cynical game in refusing and delaying the return bodies of deceased hostages, despite agreeing to do so. On Thursday, military representatives notified the families of Amiram Cooper, 85, and Sahar Baruch, 25, that their bodies were returned to Israel by Hamas. Cooper was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, and was killed in captivity, the IDF confirmed in June 2024. Baruch was kidnapped by terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri during the onslaught and was killed during a failed IDF hostage rescue mission in December 2023.

Two weeks ago, Hamas “returned” the body of a West Bank Palestinian man rather than one of the deceased hostages it is still holding. As Times of Israel editor David Horovitz wrote:

On Monday night, [Hamas] “returned” a casket containing additional remains of Ofir Tzarfati — who was shot and kidnapped by Hamas-led terrorists as he tried to escape from the Nova music festival, and whose body was recovered from Gaza by the IDF in December 2023 — again, rather than one of the 13 deceased hostages still in Gaza. Showing a level of depravity that moved even the International Committee of the Red Cross to speak out, it had staged the ostensible recovery of these remains by digging a large hole in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, dumping in a body bag with Tzarfati’s partial remains, covering it over, and then calling in the Red Cross to witness the “discovery” and extrication of the newly buried bag.

The entire process, however — from the intended clandestine burial of the body bag through its “discovery” — was filmed by an IDF drone. Thus, a production intended by Hamas to demonstrate that it was searching in good faith for the remains of the 13 final deceased hostages, and not breaching its requirements under the ceasefire deal, instead turned into a documented saga of Hamas fakery.

Internally, the country faces growing political and social instability as debates over judicial reform, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s corruption trial, and rifts within the ruling coalition intensify ahead of the 2026 elections.

“Internally, the country faces growing political and social instability.”

Ultra-Orthodox protests and ideological divisions are further straining national unity and complicating policy decisions. Thousands of Haredim took to the streets of Jerusalem on Thursday to protest the push to conscript yeshiva students into the IDF. Yeshiva networks have organised the so-called “million man march” to demand an end to the detention of a number of torah scholars who have been arrested for defying draft orders. Haredi community leaders oppose the introduction of conscription after the Supreme Court struck down a long-held exemption for religious students from serving in the military last year. The issue has become one of the most divisive in Israeli politics, uniting almost the entire Haredi community against the government.

This week, pray that the bodies of all the remaining hostages will be found and released. Pray for the families of the hostages and of all those who have died in this conflict. Pray that the Lord will “destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations” (Isaiah 25:7). Pray for the coming of the Prince of Peace, who alone can bring true shalom. 

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