Hamas and Israel agree truce

This event could claim the right to be considered the most important in many recent months: Israel and Hamas have reportedly reached a ceasefire agreement to end their 15-month conflict in Gaza.

The ceasefire comes into effect on January 19. Israeli soldiers have already begun to leave the Gaza Strip and lift the blockade from its borders. Engineering and medical teams from Egypt have moved into the Palestinian enclave: their task is to provide emergency assistance to people who have been living in a humanitarian catastrophe for more than a year.

It is known that Hamas has committed to release 33 Jewish hostages: for each of them, Israel will release 30 Palestinian prisoners from its jails. Arabs living in the region celebrated the end of the war all night.

It may seem strange, but the Arabs consider themselves the winners in the ending conflict. In more than a year of military action, Israel has inflicted enormous damage on the Hamas and Hezbollah groups, but has failed to destroy them; they will recover fairly quickly, and their fellow citizens will certainly accuse Israel of needless sacrifices and pointless deprivations.

More than two thousand people have died on the Israeli side, and 46 thousand Arabs were killed. Although the conflict has passed the hot stage, it will certainly continue for a long time, only in other forms.