As reported, Hamas can’t come up with 40 Israeli hostages out of the 253 kidnapped. As part of the negotiations, Hamas was supposed to release forty hostages. They say they don’t know where the hostages are.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
“Fears are rising over the fate of the remaining hostages held in Gaza after Hamas said it was unsure whether it could bring forth 40 Israeli civilian captives as part of a U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal, according to officials familiar with the negotiations.”
“Around 130 remaining hostages taken in the attack are still in Gaza. Of those, Israeli officials have publicly confirmed that 34 are dead, but Israeli and American officials estimate privately that the number of deaths could be much higher,” the business daily added.
Israel withdrew most of its army, and now Hamas is demanding a ceasefire so they can locate the hostages.
The negotiated deal includes 40 hostages for 900 Palestinians, including convicted kidnappers and terrorists. The deal is terrible, and Hamas is demanding a lot more.
Of the 253 hostages, 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 12 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military.
Hamas won’t hand over a list of hostages they still have in their control, possibly because they don’t even have forty.
CBS News quoted Israeli sources Thursday, confirming “Hamas can’t locate dozens of hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attacks.”
Hamas are terrorists, and everything they do is for maximum terror. There is a sad possibility that most are deceased, as the US and Israel privately agree.
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Hypothetically:
Could Israel have known in advance of the Oct 7 23 and stood down? A general mobilization.
Could Israeli troops be redeploying to the North and East for the war the Israeli PM has been begging for against Iran?
In WWII, allied bombing of German war production was considered successful if most of the bombs fell within 5 miles of the target. Within 5 miles sounds prehistoric by today’s standards. However, a factory did not have to be destroyed to halt production. If roads, rail lines, water and electricity services were all destroyed, the factory could not function. The infrastructure around the factory also disrupted civilian activity, thus hampering the locals and slowing infrastructure repairs.
When Israel says they are carefully targeting Hamas, to minimize civilian casualties, we should consider this from the Israeli point of view. More civilian deaths is bad PR.
What Israel wants to accomplish is returning the infrastructure in Gaza to the 14th Century. It will take a long time before electrical and potable water distribution is capable of supporting the return of Palestinians. Transportation will be hampered by cratered roads and collapsed tunnels. The spider web of collapsed tunnels will severely degrade the type, size and location of future structures.
I believe the IDF when they say they are not “targeting” civilians. Those civilians killed when infrastructure targets are destroyed, is what it is.
Wipe gaza off the face of the earth.
Never let them in Gaza ever again. Gaza must be Entirely controlled by Israel or this will happen over and over. If they murdered all thos women and children, all bets are off and the war has just begun. Do not let Iran get a way with what they did today and why is He!zbollah getting away with the attacks everyday. Go to Damascus and level it
So sad.