2024-02-12 19:11:40
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The Gilad Shalit example
Gershon Baskin, a former Israeli negotiator who played a key role in the release of Franco-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011, is also calling for an agreement with Hamas. “My position has not changed since the start of the war: the only way to bring back all the hostages alive is negotiations and an agreement,” says the expert, who operates unofficially to advance the talks.
According to him, the Israeli army could indeed find and free other hostages, thanks to the information at its disposal. But he considers it too risky. “We know that more than 30 of them have already been killed, either in Israeli bombings or executed by Hamas. Today, there are still 134 people kidnapped in Gaza, including the bodies of those who were killed. We do not know how Hamas will react to the Israeli military operation which has just been carried out to free the two hostages: will it take revenge and kill others? It’s an extremely risky affair, especially when we know that an agreement could enable the release of dozens of people,” says the Middle East director of the NGO International Communities Organisation, which specializes in conflict zones.
Benyamin Netanyahu declared yesterday morning that “only the continuation of military pressure, until complete victory, will lead to the release of all [les] hostages.” The Israeli prime minister insisted: “We will not miss any opportunity to bring them home.” Statements which seem to go against the indirect talks between Hamas and Israel, which are due to resume this Tuesday in Cairo, Egypt, under the leadership of Egyptian, American and Qatari mediators.
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Risk of escalation
Words which above all raise fears of an escalation of violence still unprecedented since the start of this war, in the overpopulated area of Rafah, where nearly 1.4 million Gazans are refugees. The operation carried out last night by the Israeli army alone left around a hundred Palestinian dead, according to Hamas figures. Tension is growing among the population, who are experiencing a humanitarian situation that is more dramatic every day and fear the worst.
Under cover of anonymity, a refugee in Rafah confided via WhatsApp: “Last night was one of the hardest. And I think that Benyamin Netanyahu will now feel reassured by his population and the international community in his will: nothing will stop him in the face of Rafah. But what also worries me is that Hamas continues to hide Israeli hostages in houses in the middle of cities and refugee camps, where we civilians are all crowded together. Why don’t they put them in their tunnels? Where will we go if the Israelis attack Rafah? This is madness! I really don’t know how this war will end.”
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