The guns are silent in the Middle East – a success for the people of Israel and Palestine
13. Oktober 2025
It was with great pleasure that the FIR and its member associations learned today that the last surviving Israeli hostages held by Hamas have been handed over to Israel and that, at the same time, the first Palestinian prisoners have been released from Israeli prisons and allowed to leave for Egypt. We are delighted for these people and their families.
However, we also remember that the release of the hostages could have taken place much earlier if offers of dialogue and mediation from various countries had been taken seriously.
At the same time, it is essential for the people in this region that the fighting in the Gaza Strip has ceased and that the Israeli army is beginning to withdraw from the territory. However, the returning refugees are often faced with the ruins of their existence. Homes, hospitals, and much of the essential infrastructure have been destroyed. These people need immediate solidarity and assistance from the international community. The borders must be opened directly for the 170,000 tons of aid supplies stored on the Egyptian side.
The next step must be to reach a viable peace agreement between Israel and Palestine through negotiations. If one military power is to be replaced by another occupation, that is not peace, but the precondition for renewed escalation, which no one in this region, neither Israelis nor Palestinians, can wish for.
With this in mind, we welcome the releases, but believe that there is still a long way to go before a sustainable peace solution can be reached. Actors who in the past have clearly shown themselves to stand on one side, such as Tony Blair, are not suitable mediators who can be recognized by both sides.
