Even before 2023 came to an end, the argument regarding the order of priority among the goals of our war against Hamas – the destruction of Hamas as a fighting force and as a governing force versus the return of all the hostages, alive or dead – was already to be heard.
In general, the Center/Left has been inclined to argue that it is part of the Israeli ethos that we do not leave prisoners and captives in the hands of our enemies or Israelis in physical danger due to natural disasters or accidents.
It is usually right-wingers (though certainly not all right-wingers) who are inclined to argue that, in certain circumstances, prisoners and hostages should not be released at any price.
These circumstances involve the demand, by our enemies, for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and captives incarcerated by Israel after committing acts of terror against us, frequently involving murder, and who after their release are liable to return to committing acts of terror or worse (e.g. former Hamas head Yahya Sinwar) – in return for Israeli prisoners and hostages.
The statistics we have show that while 82% of the released prisoners remain in touch with the terrorist organizations they belonged to, on average, “only” 12% return to active terrorist activities. However, the figure of 82% dominates the rhetoric.
Regarding our hostages in the Gaza Strip, this very pertinent but painful situation has become much more charged, since all the live hostages – 24 out of the 59 – have been in captivity for over 528 days in inhuman living conditions, are all suffering from serious undernourishment, are in poor physical condition, and are not receiving any health care.
Last Wednesday, this impossible argument exploded once again when new Southern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor stated that the first assignment of the IDF is to liquidate the Hamas terrorists, and the second is to return the hostages.
“The exact opposite, commander,” reacted the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “These are grievous and irresponsible words, since if one is speaking of this order of priorities – a serious danger faces the lives of the hostages, and the ability to return the dead for proper burial. The first moral and ethical assignment under your responsibility is to return the 59 hostages, who have been rotting under Hamas captivity in Gaza for 523 days. Later on, destroy the Hamas regime. First the hostages – Hamas later.”
Releasing hostages vs. dismantling Hamas
The question now is whether Israel will manage to reach an agreement with Hamas regarding part or all of the remaining hostages before it is too late and what price it will be willing to pay. If Asor represents the position of the new top IDF command, and given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reservations over any feasible hostage deal, the prospect for those who place the hostages before the total eradication of Hamas is gloomy.
However, what complicates the situation is that it is not clear what destroying Hamas both as a fighting force and a governing force entails. Military experts keep telling us that the military capabilities of Hamas have been decimated, though it is still capable of carrying out terrorist activities.
What has not been destroyed is Hamas’s governing abilities. Despite the massive physical destruction of buildings, homes, and infrastructure, which the IDF has caused in the Gaza Strip (the exact figures are still in dispute), there is no doubt that most of the governing services still provided at some level in the Gaza Strip are provided by Hamas.
Though unlike his predecessor, the new chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, has expressed his consent to the IDF participating in the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, which could be viewed as a preface to some form of military administration there, let us not forget that during Joe Biden’s presidency, Netanyahu rejected the president’s prodding that Israel should start planning and implementing an alternative administrative apparatus for the Gaza Strip.
The result is that nothing appears to have been done, and it is thus not realistic to expect Hamas to be effectively ousted from all its administrative functions immediately.
But even if Israel, by means of the IDF or otherwise, starts creating some viable replacement for Hamas, who exactly would it approach with regards to releasing the hostages?
It isn’t clear whether even Hamas knows where all the hostages – dead or alive – are located. It is clear, however, that once Hamas is banished, the task of locating all the hostages might become much more complicated, if not impossible.
Since President Donald Trump returned to power in the US, and since Zamir replaced Herzi Halevi as chief of staff on March 5, the talk in Israel about not going through with the second stage of the hostage agreement, signed when Biden was still president, and the renewal of the fighting in the Gaza Strip, has intensified.
When exactly the fighting will be renewed is as yet unclear, and whether this is what Trump means when he speaks of “all hell breaking loose” unless Hamas releases all the hostages immediately (the first time he sounded this warning was on February 11) is also a riddle.
The latest information to emerge from the government several days ago is that Israel is preparing for “intense warfare” rather than “full-scale warfare,” apparently because a possible additional exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners has not been ruled out altogether.
At the time of writing, Hamas is reported to be offering a gesture of goodwill to the Americans in the form of the release of five hostages with American citizenship: one alive (Edan Alexander) and four bodies, while Israel is demanding the release of at least five live hostages and 10 bodies. Not surprisingly, the hostages’ families are deeply concerned about this state of affairs.
A last comment about Trump’s use of the threat of hell breaking loose on the Palestinians: Some say that with tens of thousands of Palestinians killed by the IDF in the Gaza Strip, and extensive destruction of buildings and infrastructure there, hell has already broken loose there – unfortunately, without any effect on the willingness of Hamas to return all the hostages without a complete end of hostilities and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
In the final reckoning, it is fair to say that the worst hell is being suffered by the remaining 22 live hostages being held by Hamas. That hell ought to be ended completely and immediately.
Over the years, the writer has held academic, administrative, and journalistic positions, the last one (1994-2010) in the Knesset library and Research and Information Center. She has published articles on Zionism, European politics, current affairs and Israeli politics, and several gooks in both Hebrew and English, the last of which was Israel’s Knesset Members - A Comparative Study of an Undefined Job.