1y ago

Families of hostages storm Knesset meeting after Netanyahu rejects Hamas offer

www.theguardian.com

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”.

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1y ago

Israeli hostages’ families storm Knesset meeting to demand their return after Netanyahu rejects Hamas' ceasefire offer

www.theguardian.com /world/2024/jan/22/families-israeli-hostages-storm-knesset-meeting-netanyahu-rejects-hamas-offer-fighting-gaza

25 comments

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):
  https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-12-13/ty-article-opinion/.premium/if-israel-used-a-procedure-against-its-citizens-we-need-to-talk-about-it-now/0000018c-6383-de43-affd-f783212e0000
  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.
  
  Ok, wow.... I didn't know that even existed.
  Today I learned.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Directive
- Israeli gov doesn't care about the hostages and Hamas doesn't care about the Palestinian people. It's very bleak.
- Honestly, the one thing that really surprises me about this war is how little the Israeli government cares about the hostages.
  There were 10 times as many Israelis killed in Hamas' attack in a single day that there are hostages left. They've also said they will keep performing such attacks for as long as they can.
  Sad as it is for the individuals, I think Israel considers them lost and the last thing they want to do is prove Hamas right for what they did
- I'm not an American.
  Gonna downvote you for making assumptions.
  And no, I am also quite critical of the evil of my own country, but I probably have huge blind spots as well.
  
  Hi American here!
  We have done a ton of fucked up shit, please learn from our mistakes instead of copying them.
If they're this callous toward their own citizens you can imagine how barbaric they are to Palestinians
- Don't have to imagine. There are plenty of videos, photos, and news stories showing it.
- So calous what, that they won't negotiate with terrorists whose sole demand is to be given their own country?
  No. Hamas has no leverage. They sold themselves out on October 7. Traded their future and their home to kill 1,300 civilians and first responders. Terrorists don't get to have a country.
  Hamas kidnapped these people and Hamas is using civilians as human shields in order to attract sympathy.
  
  If you think Oct 7 was brutal wait until you hear what Israel been up to for the past 50 some odd years 🤔
Drag them all 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.
  
  Rereading my comment, I could see I wasn't clear. I meant the Knesset members. I edited my comment.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
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!
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?
- It was never true, everyone negotiates unless they're trying to act like a big tough guy at their people's expense.
  
  Not sure what country you had in mind. Some do have a "no negotiation" stance: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2022/01/we-do-not-negotiate-terrorists-why. I also had the impression it was a widely accepted idea by the general population.
  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.
- Everyone negotiates, not everybody caves. They already negotiated the release of half of the hostages. If Hamas is asking for 2000 of their fighters for the rest, talks get a bit more difficult
Bibi be like "You're lucky I don't kill the hostages my damn self and make you watch!"

25 comments