Capturing Foreign Hostages Puts Hamas in Trouble, Israel in Crisis

Palestinians and militants from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades run towards the Erez crossing between Israel and north Gaza Strip (AFP)
Palestinians and militants from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades run towards the Erez crossing between Israel and north Gaza Strip (AFP)
TT
20

Capturing Foreign Hostages Puts Hamas in Trouble, Israel in Crisis

Palestinians and militants from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades run towards the Erez crossing between Israel and north Gaza Strip (AFP)
Palestinians and militants from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades run towards the Erez crossing between Israel and north Gaza Strip (AFP)

The about 150 Israeli and foreign hostages held currently in Gaza remain a pivotal tool in determining the fate of the Israeli-Hamas war at a time when both sides have used the matter to raise the ceiling of their goals.

Israel refused to negotiate on the release of the hostages, and says it will continue the war until the captives are released unconditionally and without price.

In return, Hamas said it will not free the hostages until the release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails – about 5,500 detainees.

At present, the number and identity of Israeli hostages in Gaza remain unclear.

Estimates say there are 150 hostages, 30 of them held by the Islamic Jihad, others held by Palestinian factions and the overwhelming majority by Hamas.

Eyewitnesses say the list of hostages include 10 Americans, several tourists from Britain, Russia and Germany and some workers from Thailand.

Their presence in Gaza certainly affects the decisions of war on both sides.

On the one hand, the governments of the hostages seek to secure their safe return back home, while the US administration is exerting pressure on both sides for their release.

Reports published in Washington said negotiations were underway with Hamas to secure a humanitarian exchange deal under which women, children and the sick would be freed in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners of war.

But Israeli officials prefer to use force and not negotiations to release the hostages. They do not want Hamas to register any victory or political achievement.

The Israelis are still in shock from Saturday’s attack by Hamas. The Israeli army is suffering from a serious crisis of confidence not only among local citizens and Palestinians, but in the world.

By using force instead of negotiations, Israeli leaders hope to erase the image of a weak army that was unable last Saturday to prevent the death of 800 Israelis by a small armed organization like Hamas and to protect 22 towns and a barrier that has cost $800 million.

Meanwhile, Hamas has already warned that the captured Israeli and foreign hostages are being held across the Gaza strip so it becomes harder for the Israelis to reach them and free them.

Hamas is seeking to benefit from the hostage file at the foreign level. It hopes that the governments of the captives would stop the Israeli attacks on Gaza and speed up a prisoner swap deal.

But at the same time, the Movement has failed to reveal any proper human treatment of the hostages that could attract foreign sympathy.

The photos and videos posted on social networks showed Hamas members beating prisoners, boasting that they had captured an elderly woman in a wheelchair and several children.

Although Israel is also killing and capturing Palestinians, Israeli authorities are using Hamas photos and videos with well-lubricated media campaigns against the group and the Palestinians.

The images caused outrage in the world against Hamas. But at the same time, they raised concerns for the lives of the foreign hostages, pushing several countries to start negotiations on a prisoner swap deal.

These countries, led by the United States, Britain and Germany and which have stood with Israel against Hamas from the very beginning of the war, expect the Israelis to return the favor and not to block any swap deal.

A military spokesman for the Qassam Brigades said that the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip on Monday night and Tuesday led to the death of four Israeli hostages. The reports jeopardize the lives of the rest of hostages and aggravate the relations of these countries not only with Hamas, but also with Israel.

Finally, if the Israelis decide to utilize the “Hannibal protocol”, an order that compels army units to do everything they can to recover an abducted comrade, its use with foreign hostages will lead Israel into a crisis.



Red Cross: Israel's Aid Blockade to Gaza 'Unacceptable'

FILE PHOTO: A view shows humanitarian aid with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK) at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza, Israel, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows humanitarian aid with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK) at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza, Israel, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo
TT
20

Red Cross: Israel's Aid Blockade to Gaza 'Unacceptable'

FILE PHOTO: A view shows humanitarian aid with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK) at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza, Israel, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows humanitarian aid with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK) at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza, Israel, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo

The Red Cross on Thursday denounced the human cost of the war raging in Gaza, slamming Israel's "unacceptable" full blockade on aid into the besieged and conflict-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of a growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which they say has been exacerbated by an Israeli blockade on all aid since early March, reported AFP.

"It is unacceptable that humanitarian aid is not allowed into the Gaza Strip," Pierre Krahenbuhl, director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told reporters in Geneva.

"That's just fundamentally against anything that international humanitarian law provides."

The situation in Gaza is on a "razor's edge" and "the next few days are absolutely decisive", he added.

"There's a moment where we will also run out of anything that's left in terms of medical supplies and other" aid, he said.

Israel resumed military operations in Gaza on March 18 after talks to prolong a ceasefire stalled.

The country denies a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, where it plans to expand military operations to force Hamas to free hostages held there since the Iran-backed group's unprecedented October 2023 attack.

'We should all be terrified'

"What we would need is an immediate return to a ceasefire situation to ease the pressure," Krahenbuhl said.

"I think everybody should feel deep indignation about what is happening in Gaza. I can't reconcile myself with the human cost of this conflict," he said.

"Frankly, if this is the future of warfare, we should all be terrified, and we should all be aware that this questions the very foundations of our humanity."

Israel is reportedly aiming to shut down the existing UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza, forcing all deliveries to go through Israeli hubs.

Krahenbuhl stressed that "there is no monopoly among humanitarian organizations" to deliver aid. "States can undertake it."

But he insisted that any delivery of aid must respect humanitarian principles "such as the impartiality of aid, that it actually reaches people, that it's not politically motivated and directed".

Every effort to get aid to Gazans in need should be "taken seriously", Krahenbuhl said.

"But right now, the most effective way to get aid to people is to lift... actions or decisions that were taken to prevent aid from reaching" inside Gaza.

"There are huge quantities of aid that are on the borders of Gaza that can go in tomorrow," he insisted.