Yesterday, Ed summed up the happy if limited news that some of the hostages had been released by Hamas and the fighting had “paused” in Gaza, while Israel released a larger number of convicted Palestinians from prison. The fighting has seemed to come to a temporary halt, even on Israel’s northern border, where Hezbollah reported ceased firing missiles into the country under an agreement brokered by the Iranians. (It’s odd that they would admit to such direct involvement.) As previously noted, no American hostages were included in the exchange operation. While it’s worth celebrating every innocent Israeli life saved in this fashion, this exchange did not take place in an organized, complete trade. It’s been happening in a “trickle.” And Hamas seems to be reaping the majority of the rewards. This is a disconcerting trend that does not bode well for the future. Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari tried to paint a happy face on the situation, however. (NBC News)

“Today the world watched and breathed a collective sigh of relief,” he said. But he added, “But we must never lose sight of … babies who were not reunited with their loved ones, who are still being held by Hamas.”

The IDF warned Gaza residents who moved south not to return to the war-torn north amid the cease-fire, indicating that more bloody warfare was likely when the cease-fire ends.

More than 1.7 million people have been displaced in Gaza, and the death toll has surpassed 14,500, health officials in Gaza have said.

Hagari said it’s not over yet.

I’d like to be a bit more cheerful about the situation, but it’s unfolding in a significantly unsatisfactory way. There were delays right from the beginning, with the Thursday morning exchange being pushed back to Friday. Then, instead of fifty hostages, there were a little more than a dozen initially released. We’re now into Saturday and some additional hostages were freed. Israel has wisely held back on releasing Palestinian prisoners in any numbers larger than the agreed-upon ratio of hostages, but this will likely drag out through the weekend.

The inclusion of a provision to extend the pause in fighting by one day for each additional ten hostages released means that Hamas could lock down the fighting for weeks on end if they keep this up. Isn’t it obvious that this was their plan all along? With each passing day, Hamas has time to relocate and resupply their fighters while recruiting replacements for all of the ones taken out during the Israeli attack.

And that brings us back to the Palestinians being released. Keep in mind that the captured Israelis were all innocent civilians who were celebrating a high holiday. Each of those imprisoned Palestinians, even if they were women and minors, were convicted of engaging in attacks on Israel. While the hostages went through hell, the released prisoners appeared healthy and well-fed. Their time behind bars no doubt left them with an even worse view of Israel. Most of them will probably be eager to seek out Hamas and volunteer to replace the terrorist group’s fallen fighters.

This was unavoidable because of the viciously effective hostage tactics of Hamas. But it’s certainly working out to their benefit far more than Israel’s. Hamas is no doubt counting on the international press and wavering Western allies to keep up the pressure on Israel once the fighting has paused for a week or more. They are looking for a permanent ceasefire so they can get back to “business as usual.” If Israel caves in and agrees to this, the entire war will have essentially been for nothing. Netanyahu needs to step up the pressure to complete the hostage exchange promptly and get back to the business of eliminating Hamas root and branch. And Joe Biden needs to stiffen his spine and ignore all of the protests and the polls, doing the right thing by standing behind what Israel must do to survive.