The release of the hostages remains a complicated issue in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Expert Elizabeth Samson, analyst at the Henry Jackson Society, analyzes the “critical” situation in Israel due to the war with Hamas for LA RAZÓN.
-What does Israel have to do to get Hamas to release all the hostages?
Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist group, kidnapped more than 240 hostages in Israel on October 7, violating international humanitarian law contained in the Geneva Conventions. Since then, the USA, Israel and Qatar have been negotiating the release of the hostages. Qatar is an ally of Hamas, has funded it to the tune of more than $1.8 billion and offers sanctuary to Hamas leaders.
We must understand that Hamas does not seek a peace agreement with Israel. Hamas’ main goal is to destroy the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Hamas took hostages to use as bargaining chips and has offered to release them in exchange for Israel releasing the more than 10,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, many of them very dangerous terrorists. Hamas knows that Israel values the lives of each of its citizens, but Israel could never agree to such extreme demands.
So far, some hostages have been released for various reasons, and Israel is actually discussing a temporary ceasefire or a truce for a few days in exchange for the release of more hostages. Although it will have the effect of protecting Palestinian civilians, Hamas does not care about the civilians it uses as human shields. Hamas’s request for a ceasefire is to allow it to arm itself and reorganize for battle. That is why Israel considers a ceasefire, even a temporary one, dangerous.
But Israel needs to weigh its options and knows that releasing Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons is much more dangerous and is therefore looking for a compromise. Israel must weigh what it can sacrifice for the country’s security and what it will gain by returning the hostages. Ultimately, negotiations may only go so far and the release of the hostages may only occur through the use of military force, but it will take time to develop the options and the best course of action is not yet clear. Action.
–Can we see a war in Israel similar to that in Ukraine and is it possible that it will be a long war?
Israel’s war against Hamas and Ukraine’s war against Russia are similar in that both countries have been invaded by enemies who believe that Israel and Ukraine have no right to exist as independent countries. But there are important differences.
Russia brutally invaded Ukraine to conquer it and return its own sovereign territory, which it lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union and which Russia believes belongs to it. The damage to the Ukrainian civilian population and the Ukrainian territory is great, as the war between the two countries has already lasted 22 months. There appears to be no immediate solution as Ukraine fights bravely to maintain its democratic independence in the face of Russian aggression and aims to completely expel the Russian military.
The circumstances at Hamas are completely different. Hamas is not the army of an independent state and Gaza is not a country. Hamas is an internationally recognized terrorist organization that invaded Israel to murder, maim and kidnap civilians in order to establish a radical Islamist state in place of Israeli democracy. For Hamas, Israeli civilians and Jews are not just victims of war: they are people that Hamas believes it must murder outright to achieve its goals, according to the Hamas Charter. The barbaric bloodbath of the Israelis on October 7th is proof of this. Since Hamas has sought to kill—not conquer—all Israelis, Israel’s retaliation against them has been severe and comprehensive. Israel intends to completely destroy Hamas so that it does not continue to kill any more Israelis or Jews.
The Russian army is huge, organized and effective, so the Ukrainians have a more dangerous opponent and the war has been going on for a long time. The IDF’s military superiority over Hamas will allow Israel to neutralize its enemy much more quickly. Hamas is already on the run and weakened, although it will take time to eliminate the terrorists and completely destroy their infrastructure.
–Israel has captured the headquarters of the Hamas government. Could this be the beginning of the end for the terrorist group?
The capture of Hamas’s parliament, government complex and police headquarters by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is an important and symbolic step in weakening Hamas’s terrorist structure as an organization. IDF soldiers also captured the governor’s house in Gaza, which housed offices of the Hamas military, the offices of Hamas’ intelligence department, and other locations where Hamas was preparing for its October 7 attack on Israel.
It is possible to destroy Hamas, but it will be very difficult and will not happen quickly. Hamas terrorists are entrenched throughout the Gaza Strip, hiding among and disguising themselves as civilians, and their network of underground tunnels is vast. Separating the terrorists from the civilian population will take a long time, especially since Israel pays particular attention to respecting international humanitarian law when protecting civilians, using the principles of military necessity, proportionality and distinction to determine who is a combatant who does not. .
To truly destroy Hamas and prevent its return to power, Israel and its international allies must have a clear vision for Gaza’s future without Hamas and a counterinsurgency plan to prevent Hamas’ return.
– Is the geopolitical purpose of Hamas’ attack on Israel to disrupt the progress of Israel’s recognition by its neighboring countries?
Israel began the process of normalizing relations with its Middle Eastern neighbors in 2022 with the signing of the Abraham Accords, which were bilateral agreements between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. As a result of the agreements, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recognized Israel’s sovereignty and established full diplomatic relations. Soon after, Sudan normalized relations with Israel and Morocco also established full diplomatic relations. In August 2023, Saudi Arabia was close to reaching a normalization agreement and also recognizing Israel, but this possibility has stalled since the October 7 Hamas attack because of the importance of the Palestinian issue to the Saudis.
Broad recognition of Israel by Middle Eastern states is certainly at odds with Hamas’s ambitions to discredit and destroy Israel. Although Hamas and the Palestinians must be pleased and happy that Saudi Arabia has now stopped negotiations to recognize Israel, Hamas’ attack on Israel was planned long before the normalization agreements began and the structures took many years to build. Kilometers of tunnels under Gaza and the stockpiling of weapons before the invasion. Although this was not the sole reason for the attack on Israel, a geopolitical aim of the attack may also have been to disrupt recognition of Israel, and it certainly had that effect.