A temporary Hamas-Israel ceasefire is no prelude to a truce

Cracks are already appearing in the deal, even before it is signed. It is now clear none of the hostages, or any of the Palestinians detained by Israel, will be released before Friday.

That is because neither Hamas or the Qatari negotiators had signed the agreement before the news broke. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who clearly agreed to the deal reluctantly, is now saying the media got the timing wrong.

It is now almost certain the beginning of the ceasefire will be delayed as a result.

Mr Netanyahu, who many Israelis blame for the intelligence and security failures ahead of the October 7 slaughter by Hamas, has a serious credibility issue.

A recent opinion poll found only 4 per cent of Israelis consider him to be a trustworthy source of information about the war.

He has finally given in to intense public pressure and agreed to prioritise the recovery of at least some of the 240 hostages held by the terrorists even if it means striking a deal with Hamas.

Mr Netanyahu, whose only hope of political survival is the recovery of the hostages and the total elimination of Hamas, previously opposed any ceasefire or humanitarian pause because it would give the terrorists time to regroup and to smuggle in fresh supplies.

He has always said it was possible to destroy Hamas and to liberate the hostages at the same time.

But this has so far not proved to be the case. Only one hostage, a female Israeli soldier, has been rescued and four civilian hostages released.

And given not all of the hostages were abducted by Hamas it does not have custody of all 240. While the terrorists claim they can "assemble all the hostages" that is not necessarily true.

Another tragic possibility is some of the hostages may have died from injuries suffered in the brutal attacks.

There is also no guarantee any ceasefire will last for the four days spelled out in the agreement. Given the innate hostility between Hamas and the IDF, and the terrorist group's previous disregard for ceasefires, the risk of incidents is very high.

If either side believes the other is in breach it will be back to war as usual almost immediately with aid workers and innocent civilians caught in the middle.

The insuperable problem Israel faces is that it is locked into a struggle with an enemy committed to wiping it off the face of the Earth.

Israel sees the only way to end that threat is to eliminate Hamas. Given the shocking events of October 7, many would find it difficult to disagree with that view.

That aim, unfortunately, is coming at the cost of Palestinian lives, given the way Gaza's civilian population has been used as human shields and prevented from evacuating or caught up in the crossfire and bombardments.

This has, for some parts of the community, eclipsed the initial horror caused by its terrorism atrocities of October 7.

This ceasefire is not going to evolve into a truce. Netanyahu will resume hostilities as soon as it is clear the maximum possible number of hostages have been released.

His other dilemma is the endgame. How can Israel ever be sure it has got all the terrorists? And what comes next?

The future is bleak.