Unfortunately ?
Taking hostages DOES work sometimes….
Even killing them as Hamas HAS used to turn up the pressue on Israel….
Hamas has also used Israel’s collateral deaths in hunting them against Israel….
For the families of Israeli hostages still hoping to bring their loved ones home alive — and for the more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza grappling with displacement, hunger, disease and Israeli bombardment — the stakes have never been higher, and the outlook never bleaker….
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The chief sticking point, officials agree, is Netanyahu’s demand that Israeli troops be allowed to stay in the Philadelphi Corridor, a buffer zone running along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, which Israel captured in May. U.S. officials say they continue to seek commitments from Hamas on important aspects of the deal as well and fear that the militant group might still block an agreement, even if the border issue is resolved….
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In a news conference late Tuesday, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, opposition politicians who resigned from Netanyahu’s war cabinet in June, took direct aim at the prime minister.
“Netanyahu is focused on political survival, damaging relations with the U.S. while Iran edges closer to nuclear capability,” Gantz said. “The hostages must be brought back, even at a very high cost.”
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The Justice Department announced criminal charges Tuesday against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior militants in connection with the Oct. 7, 2023, rampage in Israel, marking the first effort by American law enforcement to formally call out the masterminds of the attack.
The seven-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City includes charges such as conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death, conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals and conspiracy to finance terrorism. It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of providing financial support, weapons, including rockets, and military supplies to Hamas for use in attacks.
The impact of the case may be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding in tunnels in Gaza and the Justice Department says three of the six defendants are believed now to be dead. But officials say additional actions are expected as part of a broader effort to target a militant group that the U.S. designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 and that over the decades has been linked to a series of deadly attacks on Israel, including suicide bombings….
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Sep 3, 2024 – ISW Press
Hamas has continued to exploit Israeli hostages in an information operation likely in order to increase pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire-hostage agreement. Hamas likely calculates that this effort could create more favorable terms for Hamas in such an agreement while weakening the Israeli state.
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