According to Sky News, former hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin says the deal could be “easily derailed” by “one Hamas fighter” firing a rocket or Israeli soldiers firing on a Hamas fighter.

And if Israeli intelligence discovers senior Hamas commanders during the truce, Baskin believes they will choose to shoot and risk losing the deal.

“[Dar] if everything goes smoothly, there’s no reason why it can’t be extended. I believe that keeping women, children and the elderly hostage by Hamas is a burden for them,” the expert adds.

After the release of the civilian hostages, Hamas will want to use the captured soldiers to negotiate the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israel, but that would be a setback for Israel, Baskin says.

He says Israel is likely to continue the war in southern Gaza and instead use its special forces to conduct search and rescue operations.