JERUSALEM — Call it the calm between the storms.
No one here is under the illusion that the existential battle with dug-in Hamas Palestinian militants in Gaza is anywhere close to the end, but in the small respite of a soon-to-expire cease-fire, Israelis are collectively taking a long, deep breath after more than seven weeks of nonstop, disorienting violence.
On the border with Gaza, the rocket fire has stopped. Hamas fired 3,000 rockets in the first hours of its murderous Oct. 7 rampage and more than 9,500 in the days since. In northern Israel, the cease-fire with Hezbollah militants across the border in Lebanon appears to be holding as well, despite scattered incidents.
The shopping malls, city streets and playgrounds show signs of a brief return to something close to normalcy. Over the weekend, dozens of children and their parents packed a Modi’in bike park that was nearly deserted a week earlier because of the threat of rocket fire.
Parents who didn’t want their children to be out in the open without a shelter nearby have relaxed their grip for a few days.
Still, for a reporter who has covered the fighting at the front from the hours after the war broke out through more than 50 days of conflict, there is a sense Israel will never fully recover the spirit and sense of security that prevailed before the Hamas surprise assault last month that killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Israel’s war against Hamas has lasted longer than any of the previous clashes with the Gaza-based group that Israel, the U.S. and many other governments consider a terrorist organization.
The 2014 war with Hamas lasted 50 days. The current conflict surpassed that mark a week ago.
The U.S.-backed deal announced Friday has led to the release of dozens of hostages and a flood of emotionally wrenching family reunions. Israel is also releasing Palestinian prisoners, many of them convicted terrorists, as part of the deal.
Before exchanges Wednesday, a total of 63 Israelis, including dual nationals, had been freed during the six-day truce, according to government tallies. Another 20 hostages — 19 Thais and one Filipino — have also been released. Before the cease-fire, Hamas released four hostages and the Israeli army rescued one. Two others were found dead in Gaza, according to The Associated Press.
On the other side of the ledger, most of the 180 Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons have been teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces.
In a bit of ordinary bureaucratic housekeeping, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted an $8 billion budget to the Knesset to pay for a month and a half of the war. Mr. Netanyahu also visited the Israel Defense Forces intelligence branch and described their mission.
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“We are committed to … freeing all of the hostages, eliminating this terrorist organization above and below ground and, of course, that Gaza must not return to being what it was, that it will no longer constitute a threat to the state of Israel,” he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant traveled to the north this week and met with IDF commanders. He said Israel had injured or eliminated 100 Hezbollah members. On Tuesday, IDF Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi went to the north and met with soldiers at the border.
Where once every meeting was urgent, the pause in fighting enables all this to process at a less-hectic pace. Israel has called up hundreds of thousands of reservists during the war. Many have not seen their families for weeks.
The release of hostages has brought a different national trauma.
Each day, reporters waited to find out which hostages would be released, what they could say about their treatment in Hamas’ hands and what they knew of the terror and destruction unleashed on their homes and families when they were captured on Oct. 7.
Israel demanded that Hamas not break up families during the hostage releases, but some fathers and a mother have been left behind in Gaza as their children are freed — one more factor feeding the mixture of elation and dread.
Dire duality
The duality of tragedy and normalcy in Israel marks what many see as the culmination of the first major phase of the war.
This reporter was on the border of Gaza, near the coastal community of Zikim, on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8, soon after the first attack began. Because of so many casualties, bodies were left along the sides of roads near Gaza.
Most of the dead were Hamas fighters, killed either by gunshots or naval fire.
The temporary return to normalcy hasn’t reached some of these places. Many areas close to the Gaza border remain off-limits to the public as closed military zones. Most of the communities have been evacuated.
The few who have trickled back include agricultural volunteers and members of some of the Kibbutz communities attacked on Oct. 7. U.S. billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk visited Kibbutz Beeri over the weekend.
Many who stayed abroad during the first weeks of the war, fearing uncertainty, have returned. This gives a sense that the country has made it over one hurdle in 50 days, but the long, deep breath comes with a looming fear.
At the headquarters of IDF Southern Command, officers of the divisions, brigades and air force gathered Monday for a “lessons learned” briefing in a large classroom-style auditorium. The pause gave them time to talk and focus. Even the IDF units near Gaza have been able to relax a bit from the halt in daily fighting.
The ease is not universal.
In Palestinian areas of the West Bank, soldiers described their high tempo of activity. IDF forces are carrying out nightly raids, arrests and other operations to make sure terrorist groups cannot threaten Israel from the larger Palestinian enclave.
Many of the prisoners Israel has released come from areas in the West Bank. When they are released, they often return to rallies in their hometowns. Some of the demonstrations include Hamas flags.
Even so, when soldiers went out into the cold, crisp evening for night patrols in the West Bank earlier this week, the villages were quiet.
A sign advertising real estate described the chance to own the “home of your dreams.” It contrasted with the armored vehicles and bus full of IDF reservists heading for a mission in those same hills.
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