GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 418

Another Hostage Deal

Wanting A Gaza Deal

We learn from a report in the The Times Of Israel that Hamas wants a deal as well:

Hamas indicated Wednesday that it was ready for a truce in Gaza as its key ally Hezbollah appeared to lay down arms after a ceasefire with Israel went into place, effectively leaving the Gaza terror group fighting alone.

This is exactly what Prime Minister Netanyahu predicted yesterday. The terrorists stated as much:

“We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” a senior Hamas official told the AFP news agency, at the same time accusing Israel of obstructing an agreement.

The deal should end the stated goal of Hezbollah fighting with Israel. Even Iran said isn’t linking the two as they supported the deal:

Iran, the chief backer of both terror groups, also said it welcomed the Lebanon ceasefire and did not link it to Gaza.

Israel also stated the separation:

Israel has said that a key achievement of the Lebanon ceasefire was to break the linkage between the two fronts.

Hamas says the ceasefire is not a big deal while taking a swipe at Israel:

A senior Hamas official tried to play down the effects of Hezbollah signing up to a separate deal.

“Hamas appreciates the right of Lebanon and Hezbollah to reach an agreement that protects the people of Lebanon and we hope that this agreement will pave the way to reaching an agreement that ends the war of genocide against our people in Gaza,” Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

Hamas kept blaming Netanyahu for just about everything which shouldn’t surprise anyone:

Abu Zuhri blamed previous failures to reach a ceasefire deal that would end the Gaza war on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly accused Hamas of foiling efforts.

“Hamas showed high flexibility to reach an agreement and it is still committed to that position and is interested in reaching an agreement that ends the war in Gaza,” Abu Zuhri said.

“The problem was always with Netanyahu who has always escaped from reaching an agreement,” he claimed.

Concessions Needed

The main negotiators have said for a while that both sides need to make compromises if a hostage deal will happen:

Months of attempts to negotiate a ceasefire have yielded scant progress and negotiations are now on hold, with mediator Qatar saying it has told the two warring parties it would suspend its efforts until the sides are prepared to make concessions.

Now Israel said that Hamas actually sounds serious now according to one source:

Last week, senior Israeli defense officials said there were emerging signs that Hamas was now open to a deal that would not include a complete end to the war and total Israeli pullout, a demand that had torpedoed previous efforts to reach an agreement.

However, other Israeli officials disputed this assessment.

Inside Gaza there isn’t much hope since now Israel will be totally focused on them:

Inside Gaza, some Palestinians expressed cautious hope that the Lebanon deal could be a precursor to ending the fighting in Gaza. However, others said they felt abandoned and fearful of the consequences as Israel returns its full attention to Gaza.

“The situation will be worse, because the pressure will be more on Gaza,” Mamdouh Yonis, who is currently living in Khan Younis after being displaced from the southern city of Rafah, told The Associated Press.

“They agree to a ceasefire in one place and not in the other? Have mercy on the children, the elderly and the women. We are sitting in tents and now it is winter,” said Ahlam Abu Shalabi, a woman displaced from Gaza City.

The PM echoed those sentiments when it pertained to ending the fighting in Gaza:

Speaking Tuesday as he announced that Israel had agreed to the deal with Lebanon, Netanyahu indicated that the military would step up pressure in Gaza, highlighting the fact that a main “reason for having a ceasefire is to separate the fronts and isolate Hamas.”

Netanyahu pointed to the fact that the ceasing of fighting Hezbollah and the belief that Hezbollah won’t be helping Hamas as a main reason and it could get the hostages back:

“From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own. We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages,” Netanyahu said.

He reiterated how far the war in Gaza has come and then stated the obvious about ending Hamas:

“In Gaza, we dismantled the Hamas battalions and killed close to 20,000 terrorists. We killed [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, we killed [military chief Mohammed] Deif, we killed senior Hamas officials and we brought 154 hostages back. We are committed to bringing them all home, the 101 hostages still in Gaza, those who are still alive as well as the dead, and end the terrible anguish of their families. We are of course committed to completing the annihilation of Hamas.”

Getting The Hostages Back

Any deal with Hamas will have to include the release of the remaining hostages, but some in the Israeli government aren’t willing to release dangerous prisoners to do it:

In Israel, the hopes of the hostage families that Israel could now move swiftly to reach a deal with Hamas were dampened when far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir vowed that he would veto any deal that would see a mass release of Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for the hostages.

The National Security Minister isn’t alone on that point. They also want Israel to take over Gaza:

Ben Gvir and fellow far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich have long threatened to bring down the government rather than allow a Gaza deal, and have been pushing for Israel to occupy the Strip and possibly reestablish settlements there.

Hostage families are not pleased with the Ben Gvir:

Ben Gvir on Wednesday got into a heated debate with the mother of a hostage being held in Gaza after she accused him of being more concerned with putting settlements in the Strip than with the fate of captives held there.

Sparring with the minister at a Knesset National Security Committee meeting, Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zaungauker, said that “yesterday you said that the hostages need a little bit of patience,” prompting a vehement denial from Ben Gvir.

She was referring to an interview he gave and clearly took him out of context:

On Tuesday evening, Ben Gvir was asked about the possibility of a hostage deal during an interview with Channel 12 and answered that “we need some patience to bring Hamas to its knees.”

Zaungauker wasn’t about to let up:

Zaungauker, a vocal government critic, said that the hostages who are no longer alive are buried dozens of meters below ground, but Ben Gvir wants to build roads and towns “and settle Gaza on their blood without bringing them home for burial.”

“This isn’t Jewish values,” she asserted as Ben Gvir shook his head and looked pained. “The hostages are suffering in body and soul and you’re allowing this to continue. Where is your cry for redeeming hostages and solidarity? Why not agree to a hostage deal?”

She then pushed Ben Gvir who made it clear that Israel made the mistake of releasing prisoners before with one of them masterminding the attack that made her son a hostage in the first place:

Asked how long he would leave her son in captivity and why he believes a hostage deal would be dangerous, Ben Gvir responded that October 7 mastermind Sinwar was released during the 2011 deal for captured soldier Gilad Shalit and that a new agreement would likewise result in the freeing of dangerous terrorists.

He doubled down on that logic when he said this:

Israel has an obligation to “do everything to release the hostages but we also have a responsibility for the lives of Israeli citizens. I will not allow the release of 1,000 Sinwars under any circumstances,” Ben Gvir said.

A short recap of the hostage situation is given as well:

It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

Will a deal emerge that all parties will agree to? I doubt it given that the Hamas negotiations don’t even live in Gaza. This all amounts to using people as pawns to stay in power. It really hasn’t been anything other than that to the terrorists. However, I’m not unsympathetic to the people in captivity nor the innocent citizens that Hamas is also exploiting. I pray it all ends and soon.