Next week marks 100 days that the 132 remaining hostages have spent in captivity after being abducted from Israel to the Gaza Strip on October 7 by Hamas terrorists and Gazan civilians. Twenty-seven of the larger total are known to be no longer alive – some were killed before being brought into Gaza, and others killed under various circumstances after.
At the outset, no one believed that 14 weeks after October 7 Israeli forces would manage to release only one hostage alive, mistakenly shoot dead three hostages who had managed to escape their captives, and be responsible for several other deaths of hostages in the course of the fighting.
Over 100 hostages – most of them women and children – were freed by Hamas, under the auspices of the International Red Cross, within the framework of various exchanges for Palestinian prisoners in captivity in Israel, humanitarian agreements, short ceasefires, and Hamas gestures of goodwill to several foreign governments. Israel also managed to extricate from Gaza the bodies of several dead hostages.
From day one, the families of the hostages organized to pressure the Israeli government to have the issue of the hostages in first place among its war goals. They also pressured foreign governments and organizations to have the issue on the agenda of the international community in relation to the war in Gaza. The taking of civilian hostages in the manner that Hamas and individual Gazan civilians captured them, and brought them to the Gaza Strip, is contrary to international law, as is the way the Hamas authorities and their proxies have treated the captives since October 7.
As the days go by, the chances grow that many of the remaining hostages will not survive, due to the lack of medical care and malnutrition. Despite constant pressure, the International Red Cross did not see a single hostage until just before the approaching release of those freed.
Hostage families vocal in their protests, demands
The families of the hostages have been very vocal in their protests and demands, but are becoming increasingly desperate and insistent in their appeals, both in Israel and abroad. Many continue to doubt whether the hostages are the first priority in the goals and efforts of the Israeli government.
A group of hostage families, who met with the prime minister last Monday, completely rejected Sarah Netanyahu’s appeal that they stop speaking to the media. She claimed that this merely caused Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to raise the price he is demanding for the release of the remaining hostages.
In the past, Sinwar agreed to the release of relatively minor Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip (including fuel), and short-term truces. However, today Sinwar is demanding, in addition to the release of all the Palestinian prisoners in Israel, a complete cessation of the war, and the departure of Israeli forces from Gaza. Israel is adamantly refusing to even consider the latter two conditions.
Israel is currently considering offering Sinwar a safe departure from the Gaza Strip (which is tantamount to Hamas stopping its organized resistance) in return for the release of all the hostages, alive and dead, including four who have been in Gaza since before October 7. However, there are differences of opinion in Israel whether Sinwar is open to such an offer.
Sinwar does not fear death
Many Israeli experts believe that as a Muslim jihadist, Sinwar does not fear death, and is actually looking forward to turning into a “shahid” (martyr). It is also not clear whether at this stage Sinwar will agree to exchange all the hostages for all the Palestinian prisoners, with or without his own exit from Gaza.
Given the circumstances – and with time running out for many, if not all, of the hostages – Israel should make an extreme move: demand that unless all the hostages are released immediately, Israel will stop all humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
The last UN Security Council Resolution on the situation mentioned the humanitarian aid for the Palestinians in Gaza, side by side with the unconditional release of all the hostages (though the latter was mentioned only briefly and the former at great length).
I am sure that our American allies are opposed to our placing such a categorical demand, but am not sure whether we have an alternative, unless we are willing to forsake our hostages – an act that would intensify the schism within Israeli society, possibly to breaking point.
Facing South Africa's request of the ICJ
Israel faces another dilemma, concerning the South African request that the International Court of Justice in The Hague prevent Israel from committing acts of potential genocide, by calling for the immediate halt to Israeli combat operations in the Gaza Strip. The court’s procedures will open on Thursday, and Israel will defend itself there against what it considers to be scandalous and totally false accusations.
It was decided to confront the challenge head-on, since the Jews suffered from a horrific, unprecedented onslaught of genocide during the Second World War at the hands of Nazi Germany, and since Israel signed the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1950.
Following the surprise Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 – when around 3,000 Hamas terrorists and numerous unaffiliated Gazans committed abominable atrocities against civilians – Israel declared war against Hamas. Israel’s admitted intention is to obliterate Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities, but without any accompanying genocidal intentions.
Since Hamas had embedded itself within the civilian population and constructed a massive underground city of tunnels to serve its own purposes, it was impossible to avoid causing massive destruction in the process of trying to destroy it.
Although Israel warned the Gazan civilian population of its planned attacks, and urged the inhabitants to move to safe areas, the number of civilians killed, including numerous children, has been large. However, it should be noted that of the 22,000 casualties reported by the Hamas authorities so far, according to Israel at least a third of them are Hamas terrorists.
The United States keeps urging Israel to try to reduce the numbers of deaths of innocent civilians, and Israel has been doing its best to avoid collateral deaths. However, numerous commentators in Israel have argued that there is no such thing as “innocent civilians” in Gaza, while many Israelis have started speaking of the need to “wipe out” or oust the Palestinians as a result of the October 7 massacre.
Politicians from the Religious Zionist Party, Otzma Yehudit, and some in the Likud, do not hide the fact that they believe that Jews should settle freely in all parts of the Land of Israel, and that the Palestinians should be wiped out, or “encouraged” to migrate elsewhere “voluntarily.” South Africa was able to find many quotes suggesting genocidal intentions on Israel’s side. However, none of them reflects official Israeli policy.
One wonders why the prime minister does not put an abrupt end to all this damaging talk, unless “freedom of speech” and his own political survival are perceived by him as standing above Israel’s integrity and reputation.
The writer worked in the Knesset for many years as a researcher, and has published extensively both journalistic and academic articles on current affairs and Israeli politics. Her most recent book is Israel’s Knesset Members – A Comparative Study of an Undefined Job.