Gaza: PM Modi welcomes hostage deal, 7-point G20 agreement

With Israel and Hamas reaching a deal for the release of at least 50 hostages and a 4-day pause in fighting, PM Narendra Modi welcomed the development expressing hope that all hostages will be released soon and reiterating his condemnation of terrorism and civilian deaths.
Addressing the virtual G20 summit, Modi underscored the significance of “timely and uninterrupted’’ humanitarian aid, while also calling for efforts to ensure that the Israel-Hamas fighting doesn’t turn into a wider regional conflict.
After the meeting, Modi announced that there was sahmati (agreement) in G20 on many issues. These included zero tolerance to terrorism and death of innocent civilians, especially women and children, being unacceptable. According to the PM, there was agreement also on 5 oters issues – early, effective and safe distribution of humanitarian aid, welcoming humanitarian pause and release of hostages, resolving the Israel-Hamas issue through 2-state solution, need for regional peace and stability and reducing political tensions through dialogue and diplomacy. “G20 is ready to help in this effort in whatever way possible,’’ said Modi.
Foreign minister S Jaishankar later said an overwhelming number of countries, but not all, spoke explicitly about the 2-state solution and that there was no consensus on it. Modi told the G20 leaders that new challenges had appeared in the past few months and that lack of security and instability in the West Asia region was a cause of concern for all.
“Our coming together symbolizes that we are all sensitive to issues and standing together to resolve them. We believe that terrorism is unacceptable to all of us. The death of civilians, no matter where it takes place, is condemnable,’’ said Modi.
“Despite the clouds of crisis looming, One Family (a theme of India’s presidency) has the power to together work for peace. From the human welfare perspective, we can raise our voice against terrorism and violence and in favour of humanity. India is ready to work hand-in-hand with others to fulfil these expectations of the world and humanity,’’ he added.
Israel had earlier in the day announced that 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over 4 days, during which the fighting will remain paused. It also said that the release of every 10 additional hostages will result in 1 additional day of truce.
Among the global and regional issues that were discussed, Ukraine also figured expectedly. While the European leaders raised the issue of Russian aggression in Ukraine calling it shocking, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by saying military actions are always a tragedy for “specific people, specific families, and the country as a whole’’. Significantly, Putin, who shared a platform possibly for the first time with Western leaders since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also said “we must think about how to stop this tragedy’’.
Putin also used the situation in Gaza to buttress his point about Ukraine. “Isn’t the extermination of the civilian population in Palestine, in the Gaza Strip, shocking today? Isn’t it shocking that the Secretary-General of the United Nations said that Gaza has turned into a huge children’s cemetery,’’ he said in his remarks.