At of the time of this writing, it seems that implementation of the deal with Hamas for the return of some hostages – about 50 women and children, with the possibility of increasing the number, in conjunction with additional Israeli returns – is approaching. Given the brutal and volatile nature of the other side, difficulties and even delaying tactics and postponements can be expected in the course of the implementation, with Hamas’s aim to obtain a greater yield and challenge the stamina of the Israeli public.
Nonetheless, this deal is binding, first of all because of the moral obligation toward citizens who were kidnapped to Gaza due to an unprecedented state failure, and have been held there for a month and a half in subhuman conditions. Moreover, precisely because the enemy is whoever it is, you can never know when there will be another opportunity to save them from prison and possibly save their lives. It’s as simple as that.
The current deal is a product of the military pressure on Hamas, but this does not mean that it should be rejected and more pressure applied to get a better deal. The military operation will not stop after the ceasefire, and if Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar wants to reach another deal later, all the better. How will he behave when the sword is at his neck, and will he then agree to “all for all”? Perhaps, but the possibility that he will not is too much of a gamble. Many of the families of those who were abducted, including those who know that their loved ones will not return in the proposed deal, support it out of nobility of mind and recognition of the reality.
The political echelon in Israel, which at the beginning of the campaign did not even mention the return of the hostages as a goal, has understood that the complete elimination of the military capabilities of Hamas without the return of those who were abducted would mark a historic crisis in the Israeli mindset. It has done well to take a sober look and understand: the return of kidnapped individuals in the framework of this deal will not be evidence of a “spider web” society, but on the contrary – of a strong society with human values, which is also the basis for the military victory in the entire campaign.
At of the time of this writing, it seems that implementation of the deal with Hamas for the return of some hostages – about 50 women and children, with the possibility of increasing the number, in conjunction with additional Israeli returns – is approaching. Given the brutal and volatile nature of the other side, difficulties and even delaying tactics and postponements can be expected in the course of the implementation, with Hamas’s aim to obtain a greater yield and challenge the stamina of the Israeli public.
Nonetheless, this deal is binding, first of all because of the moral obligation toward citizens who were kidnapped to Gaza due to an unprecedented state failure, and have been held there for a month and a half in subhuman conditions. Moreover, precisely because the enemy is whoever it is, you can never know when there will be another opportunity to save them from prison and possibly save their lives. It’s as simple as that.
The current deal is a product of the military pressure on Hamas, but this does not mean that it should be rejected and more pressure applied to get a better deal. The military operation will not stop after the ceasefire, and if Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar wants to reach another deal later, all the better. How will he behave when the sword is at his neck, and will he then agree to “all for all”? Perhaps, but the possibility that he will not is too much of a gamble. Many of the families of those who were abducted, including those who know that their loved ones will not return in the proposed deal, support it out of nobility of mind and recognition of the reality.
The political echelon in Israel, which at the beginning of the campaign did not even mention the return of the hostages as a goal, has understood that the complete elimination of the military capabilities of Hamas without the return of those who were abducted would mark a historic crisis in the Israeli mindset. It has done well to take a sober look and understand: the return of kidnapped individuals in the framework of this deal will not be evidence of a “spider web” society, but on the contrary – of a strong society with human values, which is also the basis for the military victory in the entire campaign.