GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 452

Hamas Ups Demands

Hamas Refusals

If anyone thinks that a hostage deal will materialize by January 20th of next year, think again as we see in a report from The Jerusalem Post that Hamas is not a willing partner:

Hamas is reportedly refusing to release 12 of the 34 hostages in the first phase of an alleged deal in the works, instead offering the bodies of 12 killed abductees, a Palestinian source told Israeli state news agency KAN on Monday.

Netanyahu wants live hostages first, which makes a lot of sense:

The source claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused the release of bodies in the first stage of the deal.

And now, Hamas wants more dangerous prisoners released for the dead bodies:

While Hamas has refused to release all the requested 34 living hostages, the terror group has reportedly upped the number of security prisoners it demands released.

The terrorists are now classifying innocent citizens as soldiers in an attempt to slow down any deal:

Egyptian news channel Al-Ghad reported earlier this month that 11 of the names Israel sent did not meet Hamas’s criteria as the terror organization considered them soldiers. Hamas reportedly only agreed to release the sick, children and the elderly in exchange for 250 security prisoners.

Predictably, Hamas doesn’t want to release the names of living hostages probably because they’ve already been killed by them or they don’t know more about them as their leadership was taken out previously:

Sources previously revealed to The Jerusalem Post that one of the reasons for a delay in a hostage deal was because Hamas had failed to provide a list of living hostages.

The question then is who will be freed. Russia was promised that two of their people would be let go in the first round of a deal:

While the names of the 22 hostages Hamas has promised to release have not been made public, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzouk, has previously promised Russia that two Russian citizens would be among the first released.

The two Russian hostages, Alexandre Troufanov and Maxin Herkin, are both being held in Gaza, although Troufanov is by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Russia is probably a tad wary of any promises from Hamas, and for good reason:

Hamas made similar promises prior to murdering Russian citizen Alexander Lobanov.

Lobanov’s body was discovered in Gaza in September alongside the bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, and Ori Danino.

These hostages were murdered by the terrorists and Hamas admitted they killed them. All you need to know about any deal is that Hamas doesn’t want one. They want a deal where they survive and Israel will never accept a deal like that as we hear yet again from Netanyahu.

War Will Not End

In an article from the Jewish News Syndicate we’re told that Prime Minister Netanyahu will not stop the war until Hamas is gone:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a recent closed meeting about the hostages that fighting in Gaza would resume following any ceasefire agreement with Hamas, according to a report on Monday on Channel 12‘s website.

The PM stated that any deal will not include a permanent ceasefire:

“If there is a deal—and I hope there will be—Israel will return to fighting afterward. There’s no reason to obscure or conceal this because resuming fighting is intended to complete the war’s objectives. This doesn’t obstruct a deal; it encourages one,” the news outlet quoted the premier as saying.

Some of Netanyahu’s team are concerned about his open stance on that issue:

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the report, which also claimed that some negotiators have expressed concern over Netanyahu’s stance, because Hamas demands international guarantees for the later stages of an agreement. The terrorist group has previously insisted on an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

As if I need to remind you, the three goals for the war against Hamas are listed:

Jerusalem’s three war goals are to eradicate Hamas as a military and political body, bring all of the hostages home and prevent Gaza from re-emerging as a security threat to Israel in the future.

The PM strongly stated that Hamas has a date with extinction regardless of any deal:

Netanyahu said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Dec. 20, “I’m not going to agree to end the war before we remove Hamas. We’re not going to leave them in power in Gaza, 30 miles from Tel Aviv. It’s not going to happen.”

Time is of the essence since news of how poorly the hostages are being treated has emerged in a report from CBN.com:

Israel's Health Ministry is submitting a report to the United Nations this week detailing the severe physical, sexual, and psychological abuse endured by hostages in Gaza.

The report is the culmination of information gained mostly from the freed hostages themselves:

The testimony, provided by released hostages, reveals horrifying accounts of captors forcing even child hostages to perform sexual acts. Some were branded with hot irons, kept bound, starved, and denied medical treatment.

One hostage has died after being released:

The trauma of such torture continues to haunt many hostages months after their release. Tragically, 78-year-old Hannah Katzir recently died from heart issues caused by the starvation and unbearable conditions she endured while in captivity.

Katzir died because of how she was treated while a captive:

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel explained, "She was held captive, and she was one of the first to be released. Coming back to Israel, she suffered from a medical condition, came back in malnutrition, and was hospitalized."

We’ve known for some time that every day these hostages are held they are one more day closer to dying. It would be nice if the international community would bang that drum more and demand that Hamas treat those they hold humanely or better yet release them period.