by Emily Rose and Crispian Balmer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – As Israel prepares to launch a major ground operation in the Gaza Strip, many families of hostages held by Hamas since the October 7 attack are calling on the government to show restraint and instead favor negotiations to obtain the release of their loved ones.
Highlighting a painful dilemma across the country, other families, however, warn that mediation efforts could take years and pin their hopes on the army to find the men, before it is too late, women and children detained by Hamas.
Hamas fighters kidnapped 222 people during their incursion into several Israeli communities during which they killed 1,400 people. Many hostages are dual nationals who also have an American or European passport.
These hostages are believed to be hidden in different places in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has a network of tunnels. The Palestinian enclave has been targeted since October 7 by Israeli airstrikes of unprecedented intensity. More than 5,000 Palestinians were killed, and entire neighborhoods of Gaza were devastated.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to “eradicate” Hamas and a ground offensive in Gaza is seen as imminent, families are urging the leader to focus only on freeing the hostages.
“That has to be the only priority, not destroying Hamas, not controlling Gaza, or anything else,” said Noam Alon, the companion of Inbar Hamain, a 27-year-old artist among those kidnapped. by Hamas during an open-air music festival.
“VENGEANCE IS NOT A PLAN”
Family support groups are holding daily rallies outside the prime minister’s residence in Tel Aviv to continue putting the plight of the hostages in the spotlight.
President Isaac Herzog met with numerous families at his Jerusalem residence on Sunday while, outside, hundreds of demonstrators gathered to demand that Israel do more for the hostages.
“Revenge is not a plan,” was written on a sign held up by Carmel Gorni, a political activist whose cousin, Yiftah Gorni, was killed in the Hamas attack. “We need to talk to Hamas. We can’t always resort to war. We have so many Palestinian prisoners we can exchange.”
“If our soldiers enter (into Gaza), many people will die, including the hostages,” added Carmel Gorni.
Not all families are on the same page.
Ilan and Sandy Feldman, among those received by Isaac Herzog on Sunday, discussed with the head of state the fate of Aviva and Keith Siegel, Sandy’s sister and brother by marriage, last seen in a video dating from October 7 showing them being led towards Gaza by Palestinian fighters.
They expressed doubt that Aviva and Keith Siegel could survive prolonged captivity, saying an invasion of Gaza was inevitable.
“FIGHT BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL”
“There’s a feeling that they won’t come out alive. But it’s a bigger cause than me or us. It’s a fight between good and evil. It’s as simple as that.” said Ilan Siegel. “There cannot be a place for Hamas to take root.”
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose 35-year-old son Sagui is missing and considered a hostage, declared that the fate of Hamas must be addressed “now”, while believing that the army must act as a priority the question of hostages for any military operation.
“It is possible to do two things at once, even for this Israeli government. To do everything in its power to protect the lives and well-being of our loved ones, while doing what it must do to Hamas,” he said.
Although the Jewish state has long experience in managing hostage-related crises, it has traditionally refrained from attempting any rescue operation in the Gaza Strip, a predominantly urban and densely populated area.
In 2011, Benjamin Netanyahu released more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners to recapture Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been detained in Gaza for more than five years.
Among the Palestinian prisoners released at the time, some returned to the ranks of Hamas, including its current leader, Yahya al Sinwar.
“Do we have to negotiate with them again? Look at the number of people we released for Shalit who were the ones who committed assassinations. Was it worth it? I don’t know,” Sandy Feldman said .
“UNIMAGINABLE RESPONSE”
Hamas unilaterally released two women with dual Israeli-American nationality on Friday, citing “humanitarian reasons”, as part of an agreement overseen by Qatar, which has long-standing relations with the Palestinian group.
A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Doha’s mediation efforts were continuing. However, there is no indication that Israel is willing to exchange prisoners.
A retired general chosen by Benjamin Netanyahu to be the coordinator in charge of the hostage and missing crisis, Gal Hirsch has made uncompromising public comments so far.
“Our war machine is moving forward. Don’t ask us to stop,” he said last week in a fiery speech to European ambassadors, accusing Western governments of holding Israel back in previous confrontations with Hamas.
“This is a wake-up call for us,” he added of the current crisis. “There is going to be an unimaginable response. Believe me. The war has only just begun.”
Hamas has suggested it could free the hostages in exchange for some 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, a scenario that Israeli security experts have said they do not believe is possible.
Giora Eiland, former head of the national security council, told 103FM radio that “Hamas is not stupid. They are not going to release all the hostages at once. They are going to drag this out for five years.”
(Reporting by Emily Rose and Crispian Balmer; French version by Jean Terzian, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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