Hope Of Release Dims For Hamas Hostages
By Dailytab24.
Israel is passing through traumatic period in their history following the October 7 attack that left over 1200 people dead and over 200 taken hostage. The nation of Israel may be done with their mourning, but not done with trauma of what loved ones are passing through in the hands of Hamas terrorists, who kidnapped them.
The latest trip of Israeli delegation to Qatar has come to an end without a meaningful result. The Trip to Qatar with US, Egypt and other mediators was meant to discuss and reach a hostage deal. Hamas utterly rejected the mediators’ agreement presented to it, insisting on its previously stated conditions for a deal. Lack of flexibility means hostage deal couldn’t be reached.
After initially taken hostage and Israel declared war on Hamas, under intense military pressure, Hamas accepted a hostage release deal that released over 80 Israelis, but since the first deal, Hamas has tightened up their grip on the innocent citizens of Israel. The remaining 130 hostages, who are not all alive are now faced with prospect of longer time in the hands of Hamas.
The United States have firmly pushed for a hostage deal right from the beginning. They were behind the initial deal that secured the first hostage release, but securing another hostage deal is now proving difficult. The US had gone as far as making positive comments with hope of securing a deal, but Hamas is hell bent on bending everyone to accept their own conditions.
The United States Secretary of States has toured Middle-East to and fro with the expectation to secure a deal, but a deal keeps drifting into the oblivion, while United States remain adamant that a deal is still possible despite the hard-line stance of Hamas.
Hamas has tied any hostage release deal to total withdrawal of Israeli Defence Forces, which they suggested would be done in stages. They also demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners who committed serious crimes and serving capital or severe punishment. The ratio of prisoners exchange was reportedly one to ten.
Israel said the demands of Hamas is automatically a plea or demand for israel to lose the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently said that the nation of Israel will not accept the “delusional” demands of Hamas. The Prime Minister instead, made it clear to the terrorist group that any condition that would mean losing the war is dead on arrival.
The quest to secure a hostage deal has forced United States and Israel into an uncharted zone. The war is taking toll on Israel and United States, with Biden significantly losing voters back home while Netanyahu is under intense pressure. Oppositions are calling for his head, while the United States are pushing to dictate to him.
The hostages are believed to all be in Rafah city. There was a strategic approach to the war, which clustered the hostages and Hamas terrorists in one city. The city host four remaining Hamas battalions that are still untouched. Rafah is a subject of diplomatic conundrum, and has affected Israeli international relations.
Recently, United States abstained from a United Nations Security Council Resolution which was against Israel’s war, and sought to stop the war without meeting all the objectives of it. Israel reacted angrily and threatened to pull out of a meeting with US that would discuss Rafah invasion, in protest against the sudden change of policy.
