It was improbable from the start. For months, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted he wanted to bring the hostages home from Gaza, he resisted signing a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Sustained pressure from thousands-strong marches could not get him to the signing table. But the combined pressure of the outgoing and incoming American presidents got Netanyahu to agree to a 42-day truce for the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,700 Palestinian prisoners, and an infusion of aid into Gaza. (Ultimately, 38 hostages were released over 39 days.) The agreement he did ultimately sign, then-US President Joe Biden argued, was essentially the same deal that had been on the table for nearly a year. The final, 42nd-day of that truce is Saturday. The ceasefire agreement stipulates that the truce can continue so long as negotiators are talking, so it may well hobble on.…
