For the first time since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, there is an agreement between Israel and Hamas. How is the German press commenting on the ceasefire?

“Who could object to a cease-fire in Gaza? 50 innocent women and children are to be released. Every truce, no matter how short it is, is certainly welcome”, she comments Süddeutsche Zeitung, pointing out, however, that “from an Israeli perspective, the agreement between Israel and Hamas is solely about the fate of those abducted from southern Israel during the October 7 terrorist attack. Thoughts about how the war might end, or at least stop the humanitarian disaster, play absolutely no role.”

Referring to the military aspect of the decision, the commentator of the Munich newspaper writes that Israel currently has no interest in ending the war: “it wants to crush Hamas as a military and political force and destroy its infrastructure.” However, he believes that Hamas fighters will regroup in the coming days and thus “Israel’s war threatens to lose its vigor. Hamas is winning points right now.”

A breath, nothing more…

“A window into the world of negotiations”, headlines an article in the newspaper’s print edition DIE ZEIT, attempting to give an answer to the question: “Will the prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas succeed?”. The agreement is not only of humanitarian importance, the editor clarifies, although this specific aspect is the one that is in the foreground, pointing out that it is also a “politically decisive development both for the conditions prevailing inside Israel, and possibly for the outcome of war against Hamas”. In addition, with a note of optimism, he adds that “the agreement signals some form of flexibility in the conduct of war, the willingness to compromise, the recognition of a political logic alongside the demands set by a clear military logic”.

“The hostage release agreement is a breath – nothing more” he writes on the reverse SPIEGELstressing, however, that a sustainable truce between Israel and Hamas seems rather unlikely to be achieved: “There are many who advocate that the fighting will continue unabated even after the short break.”

According to the newspaper taz however, the ceasefire may also provide Hamas with “temporary relief” as it will be able to regroup. Of course, as the editor observes, “it is rather unlikely that he will be able to rebuild in four days all that the Israeli army destroyed in almost seven weeks, with thousands of airstrikes. However, if the truce is extended and Hamas gradually releases more hostages (certainly not all), the question becomes: When will Israel resume the war, as it has announced? In any case, “the cease-fire is an indication that the bar, to destroy Hamas, has been set too high and is probably not achievable. If there are two goals and one of them is not clear, even unrealistic, then it is good to at least make progress in achieving the other,” he concludes.

Greece: How tourism can fight unemployment

“Strong economic growth, consolidation of public finances, reduction of debt: Greece, a former problem child of the EU, leaves behind the economic crisis of the 2010s. The economy is driven mainly by investments and tourism,” he writes in the journalistic network Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland the German correspondent Gerd Heller, on the occasion of the publication of the figures for this year’s travel collections by the Bank of Greece. “Tourism represents approximately 1/5 of the Greek GDP, being an important factor in the Greek balance of payments. Tourism also plays an important role in the employment sector: about one in five jobs are in the sector. The increase in tourism thus also contributes to the reduction of unemployment”.