SvennoJ on 11 July 2024
| jason1637 said: Whats even the point for Hamas to give the hostages at the point? In a perfect world the hostages are released and the ceasefire comes to pass but the damage is done. A generation of Palestinians that are still alive will have to live their lives with so much trauma. parentless, no education, and basically on the brink of starvation. |
Their point is to trade the soldiers they took hostage for high profile prisoners in Israeli prisons, aka their fighters.
Including / especially Marwan Barghouti "To his supporters, Barghouti is a jailed freedom fighter akin to Nelson Mandela, imprisoned by an occupying force and ready to lead his people to freedom. To Israel, he is a convicted terrorist who since his imprisonment has continued to call for violence against Israel."
https://www.dannymorrison.com/marwan-barghouti-a-palestinian-hero/
He is the most popular possible future leader to unite the West Bank and Gaza and form a Palestinian state.
"Hamas leaders demanded Friday that Israel release Barghouti, a leader of the militant group's main political rival, as part of any deal to end the fighting in Gaza. The demand brings new attention to Barghouti, who plays a central role in Palestinian politics even after spending more than two decades behind bars." Feb 3, 2024
The civilian hostages were not planned, definitely not in the quantity they were brought to Gaza. Hamas lost control on Oct 7 when the Israeli military turned out to be very ineffective. Many other people and factions crossed into Gaza grabbing civilians while the plan was to take soldiers hostage. (Much higher value in trade). Already 4 days after Oct 7 Hamas was negotiating with Israel to please take the civilian hostages back as they didn't have the accommodations / weren't prepared for so many hostages. Israel refused...
It's how civilian hostages ended up in civilian homes under low security, managed to escape (and get shot by the Israeli military) and get 'rescued' in Rafah and Nuseirat from civilian homes. And why the trade in November was at a 'low cost', 3 low profile Palestinians in Israeli jail for each civilian hostage (many of which who have been put back in jail later in the daily West Bank raids, that was indeed pointless)
Israel has traded over a 1000 prisoners for 1 soldier before
https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/meast/israel-prisoner-swap-explainer/index.html
Yahya Sinwar was among those released, the current Hamas leader in Gaza. (Barghouti wasn't)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/21/yahya-sinwar-the-man-who-may-hold-key-to-release-of-gaza-hostages
It's how civilian hostages ended up in civilian homes under low security, managed to escape (and get shot by the Israeli military) and get 'rescued' in Rafah and Nuseirat from civilian homes. And why the trade in November was at a 'low cost', 3 low profile Palestinians in Israeli jail for each civilian hostage (many of which who have been put back in jail later in the daily West Bank raids, that was indeed pointless)
Israel has traded over a 1000 prisoners for 1 soldier before
https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/meast/israel-prisoner-swap-explainer/index.html
Yahya Sinwar was among those released, the current Hamas leader in Gaza. (Barghouti wasn't)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/21/yahya-sinwar-the-man-who-may-hold-key-to-release-of-gaza-hostages
When released with more than 1,000 prisoners swapped in 2011 for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas five years earlier, Sinwar returned to frontline militancy immediately, stating that he had concluded from his own experience that the capture of Israeli soldiers was the “only way” to free prisoners.
For all the ceasefire and hostage exchange talks, the soldiers will always be last. They will be part of phase 2 in the current talked about 'deal', which Netanyahu is hell bent on never reaching. Netanyahu only wants a temporary pause to get civilian hostages out, get some pressure of his back.
Palestinians never had a future in Gaza. The blockade has been ongoing for 17 years with the international community ignoring it. Gaza was/is an open air prison, so in the eyes of Hamas, getting the world to wake up to the cruelty of Israel is a huge success. Although they never expected Israel to go this far destroying most of Gaza.
However the destruction only strengthens Hamas' position. Just giving the hostages up now is not an option for them. But Hamas seems more willing to accept a temporary pause since they have dropped their demand for a permanent ceasefire agreement before accepting the deal. However Netanyahu has thrown up other obstacles, he doesn't care about the hostages, only about his political survival. Even a temporary pause is dangerous for his survival.
Last thing Hamas wants is going back to the slow genocide of Gaza, with Israel 'mowing the grass' periodically.
However the destruction only strengthens Hamas' position. Just giving the hostages up now is not an option for them. But Hamas seems more willing to accept a temporary pause since they have dropped their demand for a permanent ceasefire agreement before accepting the deal. However Netanyahu has thrown up other obstacles, he doesn't care about the hostages, only about his political survival. Even a temporary pause is dangerous for his survival.
Last thing Hamas wants is going back to the slow genocide of Gaza, with Israel 'mowing the grass' periodically.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/14/israel-gaza-history/
Zehava Galon, a former lawmaker with the leftist Meretz party, wrote for Haaretz that the strategy results in “perpetual war” that forgets “human beings are also able to talk, not only to carry a club.”
Zehava Galon, a former lawmaker with the leftist Meretz party, wrote for Haaretz that the strategy results in “perpetual war” that forgets “human beings are also able to talk, not only to carry a club.”
“Just like mowing your front lawn, this is constant, hard work,” David M. Weinberg of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security wrote for the Jerusalem Post this week. “If you fail to do so, weeds grow wild and snakes begin to slither around in the brush.”
Oct 7 was a last resort. Hamas had tried everything before from peaceful protests (2018-2019 border protests)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2019/mar/29/a-year-of-bloodshed-at-gaza-border-protests
Gaza border protests: 190 killed and 28,000 injured in a year of bloodshed. Israeli snipers fired live ammunition, killing and maiming dozens. This lethal response on 30 March 2018 triggered anger and disbelief across the world but has not stopped.
A year later, the rallies continue. Thousands have bullet wounds through their legs. The streets of Gaza are filled with people limping or in wheelchairs. Children, journalists and medics have been killed, even when they were standing far back from the fence. The UN has said Israel’s military may have committed war crimes, deliberately targeting civilians.
Oct 7 was a last resort. Hamas had tried everything before from peaceful protests (2018-2019 border protests)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2019/mar/29/a-year-of-bloodshed-at-gaza-border-protests
Gaza border protests: 190 killed and 28,000 injured in a year of bloodshed. Israeli snipers fired live ammunition, killing and maiming dozens. This lethal response on 30 March 2018 triggered anger and disbelief across the world but has not stopped.
A year later, the rallies continue. Thousands have bullet wounds through their legs. The streets of Gaza are filled with people limping or in wheelchairs. Children, journalists and medics have been killed, even when they were standing far back from the fence. The UN has said Israel’s military may have committed war crimes, deliberately targeting civilians.
to repeatedly appealing to the UN and the ICC (as early as 2015 after the 2014 massacres in Gaza). They knew Israel would take revenge, but were not going to continue to sit in Gaza under total occupation and blockade any longer. The Abraham accords were the last straw, normalizing relations with Israel under the premise not to recognize Palestine.
https://gulfif.org/from-hope-to-halt-the-abraham-accords-and-the-palestinian-predicament/
It has turned into "Live free or die".
The UN, international community, USA in particular are equally responsible for making Oct 7 and the current genocide happen.
Occupation only 'ends' 2 ways, either all the occupied are slaughtered into submission (USA, Canada, Australia) or through violent resistance (Vietnam, Somalia, South Africa, Algiers, Afghanistan, Ukraine)
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