Hamas will demand a higher price
Mossad chief to negotiate next hostage deal
December 18, 2023, 6:31 p.m
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During a ceasefire at the end of November, the first prisoner swap took place between Israel and Hamas. Around 100 people are still in the control of the terrorist organization. The next deal is to be negotiated personally by the head of the secret service – and is likely to be more expensive overall.
As fighting continues fiercely with the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel is exploring new negotiations for the release of hostages. Mossad chief David Barnea is consulting with CIA director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Abdulrahman Al Thani in Warsaw, the Haaretz newspaper reported. Qatar maintains good relations with Hamas. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin began a multi-day trip to the region.
US President Joe Biden had called on Israel to show more consideration for the civilian population in the war that has been going on for more than two months. The World Health Organization was horrified on Monday by the destruction of a hospital. The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups carried out in Israel on October 7th. Around 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were kidnapped from Israel to the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media also reported that Israel was considering releasing Palestinian prisoners accused of killing Israelis in order to reach a deal. The government had previously rejected this. However, Hamas is likely to demand a higher price for the many men and especially the military members who remain in the Gaza Strip than for the women and children who have been released so far. Whether a new hostage deal will be reached remains completely open.
Around 110 hostages still trapped
During a ceasefire at the end of November, Hamas released 105 hostages, and Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners in return. According to Israeli estimates, around 110 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip. It remains unclear whether a new agreement will be reached. Hamas says it wants to hold negotiations only after the hostilities have ended. Israel is using military pressure to secure the release of all hostages.
A German-Israeli woman released by Hamas spoke on US television about her time held hostage. After her abduction, she was paraded through the streets of the Palestinian coastal area like a trophy. “I wasn’t human,” said Yarden Romann-Gat in an interview with US broadcaster CBS. Many people would have celebrated her display.
Jabalia has been contested for days
Meanwhile, new heavy Israeli air strikes in the north of the Gaza Strip have killed at least 110 people, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. A spokesman for the authority said several residential buildings in the Jabalia district were hit. The information could not initially be independently verified.
When asked, the Israeli army said it checks targets very carefully before an attack in order to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible and warns people of an impending attack. Hamas deliberately mixes with the civilian population. Jabalia has been fought over for days. The district is considered a Hamas stronghold. According to Palestinian information, almost 19,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli air strikes and the ground offensive.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalia was largely destroyed in the fighting. At least eight patients, including a nine-year-old child, have died, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on the X platform. The Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva accused Tedros on X of not mentioning that the Islamist Hamas is in the Kamal Adwan Hospital. In addition, most of the hospital was evacuated.
Doctors Without Borders criticized that since many people do not have access to the Internet, not everyone hears about the calls to evacuate. No place in the coastal area is safe, said employee Ricardo Martinez in an interview published by the organization. “Staying alive is just a question of luck,” a Palestinian colleague told him. He also warned of the impact of the water shortage: “I’m pretty sure in the long run it could be just as dangerous as the bombings and kill as many people,” he said. The water system collapsed. Residents would have a maximum of one liter of water available per day – “for drinking, washing and cooking”. According to the UN, people need 15 liters as a minimum.
HRW: Israel is starving people in the Gaza Strip
Children played in sewage that could not be pumped out because of a lack of fuel, said Martinez, who said he spent four weeks in the Gaza Strip during the war. In some places there is no fuel at all. Because of this, people died in hospitals. Bodies rotting in the streets. Israel accuses Hamas of hoarding fuel and denying it to the civilian population. The Islamist organization still regularly fires rockets towards Israel. This requires fuel.
According to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), Israel’s government is using starvation of civilians as a means of warfare. This constitutes a war crime, the organization said. According to HRW, the Israeli army is deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food and fuel and preventing humanitarian aid. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman accused HRW of being biased and remaining silent about the October 7 Hamas massacre that sparked the Gaza war. He called the organization “anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.”