Protesters call for Israeli government to do more to secure release of loved ones, as south of Gaza sees worst violence since war began
Family members of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip have stormed a parliamentary meeting in Jerusalem to demand that Israel’s government does more to return their loved ones, as fighting in Khan Younis reached unprecedented levels.
About 20 relatives of people seized as captives by the Palestinian militant group in the 7 October attack disrupted a Knesset finance committee meeting on Monday, chanting: “Release them now, now, now!”
One woman, who has three family members taken by Hamas, cried: “Just one I’d like to get back alive, one out of three.” Other protesters held up signs reading: “You will not sit here while they die there.”
On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejected new Hamas conditions for ending the war and releasing the hostages including the Islamist group retaining control of Gaza and Israel withdrawing completely. In response, a Hamas official in Qatar said Netanyahu’s refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza meant there was “no chance for the return of the captives”.
Honestly, the one thing that really surprises me about this war is how little the Israeli government cares about the hostages.
They really do value land more than human lives.
And the absolute cold blooded attitude they have towards innocent Palestinians is horrifying.
Regardless of what the ICJ decides, for me people who support Hamas, ISIS, Russia, deny the Holocaust, neo-nazis or those who support the state of Israel are all immoral persons.
And it is difficult to accept that most people are actually quite comfortable with evil. It seems to be that people are just tribal in which evil they support and which evil they object to.
Honestly, the one thing that really surprises me about this war is how little the Israeli government cares about the hostages.
Sadly, I think the Israeli government might be aware that there are fewer live hostages to come home than people think after the IDF gave the Hannibal directive on October 7th.
The possibility of "friendly fire" has been discussed more widely in Israeli news than US/Western news. For example, here's an opinion piece in Israeli's current oldest paper (refresh the page, which doesn't seem to load properly the first time):
The accounts of the only two survivors of the hostage-taking incident in Be'eri on October 7 give the impression that the Israel Defense Forces employed the so-called Hannibal Directive with the people being held hostage by Hamas inside one of the houses on the kibbutz. When it is implemented, the Hannibal Directive allows the military to endanger a soldier to prevent them from being kidnapped.
Drag all the Knesset members outside and put them in combat gear. Then ship them off to Gaza in front of all the other soldiers. If you are not willing to lead at the battlefield, you have no right to lead from your comfortable offices and homes.
As much as I agree on the "no dealing with terrorist" rule, you can't expect the families to not protest and do everything in their power to get their loved ones homes.
Has the general consensus changed about how to deal with hostage takers? I think it was "don't negotiate with terrorists" not long ago. Very tough for the relatives, but meant to prevent more harm in the future, by spoiling the plans of the terrorists.
When reading reports and comments about the Israeli hostages in Gaza, I get a different impression. Why is that, what is different?
Are there no concerns for encouraging more hostage taking this time?
Arguments can be made either way which decision is at their people's expense.
So I understand your area/bubble never favored "no negotiation", but then I'm not talking about your area/bubble. My question was about the change in attitude.
Family members of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip have stormed a parliamentary meeting in Jerusalem to demand that Israel’s government does more to return their loved ones, as fighting in Khan Younis reached unprecedented levels.
On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejected new Hamas conditions for ending the war and releasing the hostages including the Islamist group retaining control of Gaza and Israel withdrawing completely.
The families of the remaining 130 hostages, worried that their relatives’ plight now comes second to Israel’s objective of destroying Hamas, appear to be turning to more drastic measures in pursuit of another release deal, including further demonstrations outside Netanyahu’s private home.
An admission from the Israel Defense Forces last week that three hostages, whose bodies were recovered in the Jabaliya area in December, may have been killed by an airstrike on a Hamas tunnel, has also stoked relatives’ fears.
Israeli tanks reached the gates of two Khan Younis hospitals on Monday, residents in the area said, in the bloodiest fighting of 2024 to date and the worst violence in the south of Gaza since the war began on 7 October, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in its attack on southern Israel.
Joe Biden has expended vast amounts of international and domestic political capital in defending Israel’s war effort, despite a growing global outcry over the conflict’s devastating humanitarian toll.
The original article contains 943 words, the summary contains 229 words. Saved 76%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!