The statements of Israeli officials have varied in recent hours, ranging from those who insist on the necessity of liberating the hostages, to those who doubt that they will remain alive, and to those who confirm that the war will continue even if this file is completed.
When the ground incursions into the Gaza Strip began, late last October, Tel Aviv announced that it had two goals: liberating the hostages and eliminating Hamas, neither of which has been achieved so far.
Statements of the last hours
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that his government is continuously working to free the hostages, “and when we reach something concrete, it will be announced.”
- A member of the current Israeli government and former Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, confirmed, on Tuesday, during his visit to the military command in northern Israel that even if a temporary truce was held to release the hostages, the war in Gaza would not stop “until our goals are achieved.”
- Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen cast doubt on the survival of the hostages now, saying in a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday: “The Minister of Health and Families and I held a meeting with the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. To date, none of the hostages have met.” “We have no evidence that they are alive.”
- The head of the Israeli Internal Security Agency (Shin Bet), Ronen Bar, arrived in Egypt, according to the Hebrew newspaper “Haaretz”, on Tuesday, to discuss with senior Egyptian officials an expected deal to release the hostages.
For his part, US President Joe Biden revealed on Tuesday to reporters at the White House that he is holding daily discussions with the parties involved in the hostage release negotiations, but that he “does not want to reveal the details,” saying to their families: “Hold on. We are coming.”
The families of the hostages do not stop organizing protests and demonstrations, in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, demanding that the government do everything necessary to free the hostages alive. According to the Hebrew newspaper “Haaretz”, they feel that there are no serious negotiations on this issue between Israel and the Palestinian factions that are holding them.
The 239 hostages, according to the Israeli army’s count, were kidnapped by Palestinian factions in their surprise attacks on October 7 from Israeli settlements near the Gaza Strip, including Israelis and foreigners. Hamas said that 60 of them were killed during the Israeli bombing of the Strip.
Hamas requires their release to be released in return for all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, whose number is estimated by the Palestinian News Agency, Wafa, at 5,250 Palestinians as of last October 3.
Israeli “procrastination”.
Palestinian researcher on Israeli affairs, Talal Abu Rukba, describes the statements of officials in Tel Aviv regarding the hostages as “contradictory.” Because Israel is managing this file on two axes: the first is the Israeli public and the second is the Palestinian factions, in reference to sending different messages to both sides.
According to his assessment, Israel is “ready to completely sacrifice the hostages so as not to make any concession to the Palestinians, and so as not to give them a political victory.”
The Palestinian researcher links this matter to the reasons for the faltering of prisoner exchange negotiations so far every time an agreement is approached, explaining to Sky News Arabia:
- Israel is waiting to liberate some of the hostages, so it presents this as a victory for the interior and the families of the hostages, and asks them to allow more time to complete its military operation in Gaza.
- But this procrastination clashes with the position of the dual national hostages, as the American administration is pressing hard to complete the prisoner exchange process. To exploit this as a propaganda victory during the upcoming elections.
- As for the war in Gaza, it will continue for two reasons. The first is the Israeli consensus on taking revenge on the Gaza Strip for the October 7 attack, and the second is Western support for Israel and the provision of political cover.
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