The political scientist called the agreement reached between Israel and Hamas a positive step.

The agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of hostages for prisoners between the Palestinian radical movement Hamas and Israel is a positive step. This was announced on October 9 in a conversation with Izvestia by political scientist, retired Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen of the US Army.

"Now it's just a stage. We have a full prisoner exchange going on. I think the President [of the United States Donald] Trump really wants to resolve this issue and stop the killings, but I don't think this is inconsistent with all of Israel's goals. This is a positive step," he said.

In addition, he expressed the opinion that all hostages should be released, regardless of whether the truce between the parties to the conflict is prolonged or not. The political scientist also noted that there is a chance that the Israeli side will find some violations and resume the conflict.

According to Rasmussen, the main factor that Israel accepted the agreement is the pressure exerted on it by the United States. In addition, he added that there are "some radicals" in the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who are not interested in long-term peace.

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Meanwhile, Israel is intensifying its strikes in the Gaza Strip.

On the same day, the head of the White House announced the signing of the first stage of the peace treaty in the Gaza Strip, and also did not rule out his visit to the enclave at the end of this week.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Hamas representatives will exchange Israeli hostages for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Later it became known that the movement handed over to the Israeli side the lists of prisoners who are awaiting their release. At the same time, Trump announced that a hostage exchange could take place on October 13.

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