Transcript:
The Inside Story: A Fragile Pause
Episode 120 – November 30, 2023
Show Open:
This week on The Inside Story:
A pause in fighting between Hamas and Israel.
Hostages freed and prisoners swapped.
The conflict spills overseas with a rise in threats of hate crimes in the U.S.
Plus… Ukraine sees the largest single drone strike to date in its war with Russia.
Now... on The Inside Story... A Fragile Pause.
The Inside Story:
Jessica Jerreat, VOA Press Freedom Editor:
Hi. I’m Jessica Jerreat, VOA’s Press Freedom Editor here in Washington.
As we record this episode, a fragile pause in the Israel-Hamas conflict is in place.
During the break in fighting, Hamas has released more than 70 hostages taken during its October 7 terror attack in Israel.
In return, Israel has released over 100 Palestinian prisoners.
But what happens when the temporary truce expires? All this and an update on the war in Ukraine on The Inside Story.
This week’s hostage releases are welcome news for many families... but dozens more, some of them children, remain held by Hamas. Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem.
LINDA GRADSTEIN, VOA Correspondent:
It felt like the entire country held its breath while waiting for Hamas to free the children, and many Israelis cried as they watched each hostage release over the past few days.
Ohad Munder, a thin boy who likes to play with Rubik cubes, turned nine while in Hamas captivity with his mother Keren. He was reunited with his father in the hospital.
His cousin Merav Raviv says that Ohad has lost weight, but seems healthy and happy to belatedly celebrate his ninth birthday with his friends at the hospital.
Merav Aviv, Relative of Hostage Ohad Munder:
They were laughing like normal kids. It wasn’t that easy for him, but (his mother) Keren said he behaved very nice. There were a time when he was crying. And also when he came back, when he saw a sensitive movie, when someone told him something so it was emotional. I hope he will get back to normal as soon as possible.
LINDA GRADSTEIN:
Israel says Hamas captured 40 children on October 7 out of a total of 240 hostages. An official from Qatar said that 10 of the children are under the control of other militant group and it is not clear if Hamas can find them.
The children who are returning will all have to deal with trauma, according to psychiatrists. Some, like four-year-old Avigail Idan, saw her parents killed. Her father was holding her when a Hamas militant shot him.
Yuval Bloch, Shalvata Child and Adolescent Clinic Psychiatrist:
The condition is not normal. There are different reactions. One will cry, another will speak about different things. One will wet his bed, another will be afraid to go out from the safe room because that’s the only safe place. Another won’t agree to go into the safe room because the memories of the safe room are the memories of death and danger.
LINDA GRADSTEIN:
As part of the cease fire deal Israel has also released three Palestinian prisoners – all women or minors – for every hostage who was freed. Among the released prisoners was Fatima Shaheen, convicted of trying to stab an Israeli soldier.
Ismail Shaheen, Father of Palestinian Prisoner:
We are happy that she was released but only slightly so, because we cannot ignore the dire conditions in Gaza, where thousands been killed. It is not suitable for us to be happy at this time.
LINDA GRADSTEIN:
The Israeli families say that the reunions with their children released from Hamas captivity are bittersweet, because there are still so many remaining hostages. They say they will not rest until every family is reunited. Linda Gradstein, VOA News Jerusalem.
Jessica Jerreat:
The White House has welcomed the announcement of the extension of the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel … and the agreed upon release of 10 hostages per day during this pause. Anita Powell reports from the White House on what comes next.
ANITA POWELL, White House Correspondent:
The White House is applauding the release of Hamas-held hostages over the weekend and welcoming the two-day extension of a truce, with the hope that 20 more captives will be reunited with loved ones in coming days.
John Kirby, National Security Council:
We'd certainly like to see even that extension extended further until all the hostages are released. That's really the goal here, to get all the hostages home with their families where they belong. And you know, however long that could take.
ANITA POWELL:
People on both sides of the tense border celebrated the weekend exchange of prisoners held by Israel for hostages taken by militant group Hamas in its surprise October 7 attack on Israel.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki, speaking in Spain, welcomed the pause.
Riad al-Maliki, Palestinian Foreign Minister:
Any Israeli attack, instead of killing one child, will kill two. So for us, it is important to try and extend this truce the longest possible.
ANITA POWELL:
Israel’s leader, in welcoming the hostage release Monday, reiterated his main goal.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister:
We are also continuing with the main goal we said — to bring about the release of our hostages, to complete the elimination of Hamas and, of course, also to ensure that this threat will not repeat itself in Gaza.
ANITA POWELL:
Analysts say this widely welcomed pause is unlikely to bring an end to this complex – and for both sides, existential – conflict.
Michael O'Hanlon, Brookings Institution:
There are two separate problems. The long-term end to the fighting is going to require the dismantlement of Hamas – probably not in any realistic way the complete elimination of all of its fighters or capabilities or ideas, but the top leadership has to go. Hamas’ ability to rule Gaza has to go, and I don't see that as having been changed in any way, shape or form by the current pause in the fighting.
ANITA POWELL:
President Joe Biden on Sunday welcomed the release of Abigail Edan, the lone American hostage in the weekend’s exchange.
President Joe Biden:
A little girl named Abigail, who turned four years old, she spent her birthday, that birthday, and at least 50 days before that held hostage by Hamas. Today, she's free, and Jill (Biden) and I together with so many Americans are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright.
ANITA POWELL:
In a statement Monday, Biden said he had spoken to Abigail’s family after her release, and vowed: “We will not stop until all of the hostages held by Hamas terrorists are released.”
As both sides take a breath after seven weeks of war, the world is watching.
Anita Powell, VOA News, the White House.
Jessica Jerreat:
Here in the United States a man accused of shooting three students of Palestinian descent has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder.
48-year-old Jason J. Eaton was ordered held without bond by a Burlington Vermont judge. Police are still investigating what led to the attack, and say investigators are looking at whether it is a hate-motivated crime.
The attack happened over the Thanksgiving weekend. The victims – all 20 years old -- are Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid.
Relatives of Awartani say the young man was shot in the back and may never walk again.
The attack comes amid an increase globally in Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic threats and violence.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the troubling rise during a press conference.
Merrick Garland, US Attorney General:
As always, but especially right now, the Justice Department is remaining vigilant in the face of the potential threats of hate-fueled violence and terrorism.
We are closely monitoring the impact that the conflict in the Middle East may have in inspiring foreign terrorist organizations, homegrown violent extremists, and domestic violent extremists both here in the United States and abroad.
All of us have also seen a sharp increase in the volume and frequency of threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities across our country since October 7th.
And there is understandable fear in communities across the country. Even right now, ATF and FBI are investigating the tragic shooting of three men of Palestinian descent in Vermont. That investigation, including whether this is a hate crime, is ongoing. Investigative updates by law enforcement officials in Vermont will be provided soon. The Justice Department is poised to provide any assistance that our state and local law enforcement partners need as we work together to protect our communities.
In my conversations with law enforcement, community, and religious leaders, I have reiterated that the Justice Department has no higher priority than protecting the safety and civil rights of everyone in our country.
Protecting all people and all communities from hate-fueled violence was the Justice Department’s founding purpose in 1870, and it remains our urgent responsibility today.
No person and no community in this country should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence. Fulfilling that promise motivates us every single day.
Jessica Jerreat:
In the wake of the Vermont shooting, the families of the students issued a joint statement demanding “full justice and accountability.” They say Palestinian children—like everyone else-- deserve to feel safe.
The conflict has dredged up old hatreds and fears the world over. Including for survivors of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon.
Nicole Di Ilio reports from the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut.
NICOLE DI ILIO, Reporting for VOA:
Jamila Shehadeh, Director, Beit Atfal Assumou Center:
What we are witnessing in Gaza brings to mind the Sabra-Shatila massacre and perhaps, it will soon be our turn to suffer the same fate. That’ why we are scared. War means destruction.
NICOLE DI ILIO:
The radicalization of public opinion increases day after day, driving some people to unconditionally support the Resistance.
Mahmoud Ashem, Palestinian living in Shatila:
Hamas is a true Palestinian Resistance Movement. It’s carrying out what every Palestinian would like to do. If (Israel) attacks Lebanon, every Palestinian must be part of the Resistance and I am one of it.
NICOLE DI ILIO:
While anger and tension brew among Palestinians in Lebanon, a new all-out war would bring an already collapsing country to its knees.
Nicole Di Ilio, for VOA News, Shatila refugee camp, Lebanon.
Jessica Jerreat:
Here in the U.S. relatives of those affected by events in Israel and Gaza hope the pause in fighting will bring some good news after a painful period.
From New York, Aron Ranen talks with those who have family ties in the region.
ARON RANEN, Reporting for VOA:
Among the 240 people Hamas took hostage on October 7 was Omer Neutra, a U.S. citizen who had been serving in the Israel Defense Forces.
His devastated parents, Orna and Ronen Neutra of Long Island, New York, are grappling with the situation.
Orna Neutra, New York Resident:
This, this is unimaginable, right? And this has become our reality. This month feels like three months, and then again, it feels like yesterday.
Ronen Neutra, New York Resident:
The uncertainty that we live in and the 240 other families live is simply unbearable.
ARON RANEN:
The Neutras are hoping that President Joe Biden, who spoke to them via Zoom, can secure the return of their son.
Ronen Neutra, New York Resident:
Originally, we were told that he's going to give us 10 to 15 minutes. He spent over an hour with us and really expressed his full commitment and his administration’s full commitment to bring this issue to a resolution, and as he said, it's his top priority.
ARON RANEN:
Others in the New York area are also facing hardship. Sami Shaban, a Palestinian American attorney and businessman living in New Jersey, says many of his family members have been killed in the Israeli shelling of Gaza in recent weeks.
Sami Shaban, New Jersey Resident:
So this is my uncle Muhammad, who died. This is his wife, this is his whole family, this my cousin Abdullah Muhammad. Everyone in this picture is now dead. So I've lost 17 members in total.
ARON RANEN:
Shaban believes that this conflict could persist for years.
Sami Shaban, New Jersey Resident:
Death all around them. There's destruction, and it's impossible to make sense of it. What's happening today is only going to be something that we will feel for 10, 20, 30 years.
ARON RANEN:
Lisa Schirch, a professor of peace studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, sees potential for a political solution to the decades-long conflict.
Lisa Schirch, University of Notre Dame:
It's in Israel's interest to make sure that out of this crisis and horrible period, we turn a corner, we have a new paradigm for relationship with Israel and Palestine, and that we don't let a generation of children in Gaza grow up with anger. That rage turned into the nightmare of October 7 with the war crimes that cannot be justified by any excuse of rage. A win-win for everyone is a political solution that brings real security and real safety to Israelis and Palestinians.
ARON RANEN:
Meanwhile, their loved ones in the United States watch the news and wait.
Aron Ranen, VOA News, New York City.
Jessica Jerreat:
The world’s attention has been focused on Israel and Gaza since October, but the Ukraine war grinds on.
Winter is fast approaching but that may not signal a slowdown in the fighting.
Russia launched its largest drone strike to date on Ukraine over the weekend. Kyiv says it destroyed all but one of those Iranian-made Shahed drones, but falling debris smashed windows, started fires and caused injuries.
A top U.N. official is calling for solidarity with Ukraine. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
ARASH ARABASADI, VOA Correspondent:
An air raid siren blares amid a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian capital. The head of the capital city administration, Serhii Popko, called it “the most massive air attack by drones on Kyiv.” Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 74 of the 75 Iranian-made drones.
The attack started Saturday, coming in waves for more than six hours and leaving 17-thousand people without power in the region according to Ukraine’s Energy Ministry.
It also came on the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor Famine-Genocide.
Holodomor, which means death by hunger or starvation, was a campaign through 1932 and 33 orchestrated by then-Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, to seize control of Ukraine’s grain production. At least three-and-a-half to 7 million Ukrainians died. According to the University of Minnesota, those numbers may be understated.
It was against this backdrop that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recorded a video message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Holodomor Memorial Day.
She said her government welcomed Kyiv’s resolve to continue the “Grain from Ukraine” humanitarian food program announcing a further contribution of 2.2 million dollars to the effort. As part of the program, Ukraine partnered with countries and private sector donors to supply its grain to countries in Africa and Asia — that face malnutrition and hunger.
At a recent meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations accused Moscow of again using similar tactics as those in the early 1930s.
Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN:
Starvation as one of Russia’s methods of warfare has encompassed various components since day one of the full-scale invasion. These include blocking Ukrainian food exports, shelling Ukrainian ports and grain stores, (and) mining Ukrainian fertile soils and turning them into battlefields.
ARASH ARABASADI:
Following Russia’s drone strikes, Zelenskyy and European leaders met in Kyiv at an international summit on food security.
He said foreign partners would supply Ukraine with vessels to accompany and secure convoys of cargo ships from Ukraine’s ports.
Zelenskyy added his country hoped to solve air defense shortages through new supplies from partners and increasing Ukraine’s own production capacity before another air raid siren cut short the joint news conference.
At least five civilians in Kyiv were wounded in Russia’s assault on the capital with several buildings damaged from falling debris, including a kindergarten. Those injured include an 11-year-old child, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Arash Arabasadi, VOA News.
Jessica Jerreat:
As well as the risks from shelling and drone strikes, the mines and explosives that pepper Ukraine’s landscape pose a real threat.
Ukraine’s government says that since Russia’s invasion, mines have claimed the lives of at least 264 civilians and left more than 830 injured.
From Ukraine, Myroslava Gongadze spent time with those involved in the demining efforts.
MYROSLAVA GONGADZE, VOA Correspondent:
On a Saturday morning, demining crews in Balakliya in Ukraine's Kharkiv region are getting ready to go to the field. Russian forces had occupied one-third of this region shortly after the start of the war. When they retreated months later, they left this land contaminated with mines. Such weapons have killed at least 264 civilians and injured more than 830 throughout Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Emergency personnel here face an unprecedented test, says Anatoliy Vrublevsky, the head of the Kharkiv region's demining directorate and overseer of 35 demining units.
Anatoliy Vrublevsky, Kharkiv Region Demining Chief:
The biggest problem is that almost every day, actually every day, people die or get injured. We are talking about the oblast here, 30 percent of which was occupied. Then after a counteroffensive operation, it was liberated, and we have very dangerous territory to work on.
MYROSLAVA GONGADZE:
Vrublevsky says international support is crucial to their work. Ukrainian deminers make use of all outside assistance, which includes demining machines, protective gear and transportation.
Here, in Balaklia, emergency services detect a mine and conduct a controlled explosion.
Back in Kyiv, the Ukrainian government coordinates the humanitarian demining effort, bringing together government stakeholders and international partners. Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravainyi oversees the initiative, which for him, is personal. In 2016, he lost his leg to an anti-tank mine.
Ihor Bezkaravainyi, Deputy Minister of Economy:
We want to return to use 80 percent of potentially contaminated areas.
MYROSLAVA GONGADZE
Bezkaravainyi says Russia violated all norms and practices when it mined the territory, and this poses a significant challenge for deminers. Ukrainian specialists are working on techniques to scan potentially contaminated areas to create a database and map for future demining efforts.
Ihor Bezkaravainyi, Deputy Minister of Economy:
We have situations where territories’ contamination has no logic. It's a huge problem because we can predict the next step when we're working with military logic, but we can’t predict the next step when we're working with situations that don't have any logic.
MYROSLAVA GONGADZE:
Last spring, the World Bank estimated that Ukraine would require $37.5 billion for demining efforts. However, the need continues to evolve with the war and requires constant reevaluation.
Lithuania is spearheading the European Union's demining efforts in Ukraine. Tomas Matulevicius, the economic attaché of the Lithuanian Embassy in Ukraine, says the international coalition must do more.
Tomas Matulevicius, Lithuanian Embassy in Ukraine:
It is not enough for the moment, but it's just the beginning. And in the future, we hope that it will be more tools, more methods, more financial instruments, and the more I would say funds, or the governments will join the coalition.
MYROSLAVA GONGADZE:
The demining of Ukraine could take from 10 to 100 years, he said.
Tomas Matulevicius, Lithuanian Embassy in Ukraine:
It depends on how much money it will be and how many specialists will be prepared here in Ukraine and abroad. So, it depends on all of us. And we need to do that together.
MYROSLAVA GONGADZE:
The unprecedented contamination of Ukrainian land with mines and other explosives is destroying the ecosystem and undermining food security in Ukraine and the world, deepening the problem of hunger. Depending on the resources, it can take decades for Ukraine to clear its land, and it will rely on the international community to assist with the demining effort.
Myroslava Gongadze, Balakliya, Kharkiv Region
Jessica Jerreat:
Before we go, I want to share a story of unity and understanding. Since the October 7 attack on Israel, two New York communities -- one Palestinian, the other Israeli -- are working to bridge the gap. Reporter Johny Fernandez has the details.
JOHNY FERNANDEZ, Reporting for VA:
Ayat restaurant in the East Village is Manhattan’s latest hot spot.
Owner Abdul Elenani says his restaurant has several locations in the suburbs of the Big Apple, but he always wanted to bring Palestinian cuisine to the heart of New York City.
Abdul Elenani, Ayat Owner:
I felt like there was a need for that because there wasn’t any. I haven’t seen any restaurants labeled Palestinian. You see Iranian, Persian, Pakistani, Indian, but never actually Palestinian.
JOHNY FERNANDEZ:
But his timing was off. He opened the new location just days after the Hamas attacks of October 7th in Israel.
JOHNY FERNANDEZ:
Help came from where Elenani least expected it – some members of the Jewish community stepped up to support the restaurant.
Dr. Michael Harris, Jewish Customer:
I’m Jewish. I’m Ashkenazi and Sephardic. My mom is a Jew from Libya, and my dad is Ashkenazi Jew from eastern Europe.
JOHNY FERNANDEZ:
New York City pediatrician Michael Harris is a frequent customer. He says he loves the restaurant, although he disagrees with political messages some of its décor might carry.
JOHNY FERNANDEZ:
Despite that, he says, he wants to live in harmony with his neighbors.
Dr. Michael Harris, Jewish Customer:
It think co-existing, I think dialogue, accepting the other, just recognizing the legitimate rights of both sides to their own country and states.
JOHNY FERNANDEZ:
Lindsey Weiss is another Jewish New Yorker who says her curiosity to learn more about the Palestinian culture keeps her coming back.
Lindsey Weiss, Jewish Customer:
Coming into a Palestinian restaurant, a Palestinian space, and enjoying Palestinian food and culture, gets closer to imagining what that multicultural peaceful place might look like.
JOHNY FERNANDEZ:
She believes Jewish and Palestinian groups have more similarities than differences and food is the one element bringing both groups together.
Lindsey Weiss, Jewish Customer:
Food is really important, so I think coming from that place of common ground and exchanging cultures and putting them in conversation with each other and realizing that again we have so much more in common than we have different, and our goals are actually much more in common than they are different.
JOHNY FERNANDEZ:
In a time when peaceful relations seem hard to imagine, this restaurant is showing how two communities can coexist and work together.
Johny Fernandez, Voa News, New York.
Jessica Jerreat:
Thank you for joining us on another episode of The Inside Story. For the latest news on the conflict in Israel, log on to VOA news dot com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at VOA News. Catch up on past episodes at our free streaming service, VOA Plus.
I’m Jessica Jerreat—thank you for watching.
We’ll see you next week for The Inside Story.