GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 249

Taking Israel Out Of The Loop

US Wants To Release American Hostages

According to a report from the Jewish News Syndicate the United States administration is looking into working directly with Qatar to release American hostages:

The Biden administration has talked about negotiating a unilateral deal for the release of five Americans held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, NBC News reported on Monday.

Working directly and not working with Israel is a major deal:

The talks wouldn’t include Israel and would take place via Qatari mediators, two current senior U.S. officials and two former ones told NBC.

One of the current officials called it a “very real option.”

The Americans held in captivity were listed along with mentioning those who were killed that fateful day:

The five American hostages were abducted on Oct. 7 when the terror group invaded Israel. They are Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Omer Neutra and Keith Siegel.

Three other U.S. hostages are believed to have been killed that day, with their remains being held by Hamas. America wants to recover their bodies as well.

This isn’t good for Israel since Hamas likes the idea:

The officials said they didn’t know what the United States could exchange for the hostages, but that Hamas might agree to a deal to “strain relations between the U.S. and Israel and put additional domestic political pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

This could also be used to pressure Israel to take the deal the US is pushing:

The administration has also discussed the possibility that a separate U.S. deal might pressure Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire, one of the former officials said.

The talks would only occur if both sides don’t agree to a ceasefire, something that is likely:

A separate, unilateral deal would be pursued if the current Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal on the table falls through. Last week, a Saudi paper reported that Hamas had rejected the deal, however, Israel denied that a formal rejection had taken place.

Hamas is demanding an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Israel rejects those conditions.

I see another problem with leaving Israel out of the loop on this for a reason no one is talking about. The problem is the exchange of information with the Qataris that the US will use to negotiate isn’t going to stay with them as they are not neutral. If American intelligence was given to Israel to help rescue the 4 hostages as reported new information could be used for these negotiations that may not stay with the Qataris and be handed over to Hamas and the same information would not be given to Israel. And as mentioned in the report the move could and would most likely be used to push Israel to a deal that would keep Hamas alive as opposed to being eliminated. More and more this points to Israel finishing this war by themselves.

Hamas Has Israel Right Where They Want Them

In an article found in The Jerusalem Post Hamas internal communications reveal how they feel about the current direction of the war:

A Wall Street Journal report has revealed messages penned by Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, to various Hamas officials and hostage deal mediators.

According to the report, referring to the war, Sinwar recently wrote to Hamas officials negotiating a hostage deal, “We have the Israelis right where we want them.”

The report also tells us how they view their own people:

In a message to Hamas leaders in Qatar, Sinwar presented as an example the civilian casualties during the Algerian war, affirming such casualties “are necessary sacrifices."

In a similar vein, when the three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israel Air Force (IAF) strike in Gaza in April, Sinwar affirmed both their deaths and that of other Palestinians would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.”

In a statement that I tend to not believe, Sinwar apparently was not planning to abduct civilian women and children:

Regarding civilian women and children being taken hostages by Palestinian mobs on October 7, the WSJ report cites his messages to negotiators as saying, “Things went out of control.”

“People got caught up in this, and that shouldn't have happened,” he claimed.

The Hamas leader also didn’t like talks of ending the war earlier:

Sinwar was also reportedly discontent with Hamas officials meeting with other factions in December to debate reconciliation after the war, which he labeled “shameful and outrageous.”

He reportedly added, “As long as fighters are still standing and we have not lost the war, such contacts should be immediately terminated.” He further stated, “We have the capabilities to continue fighting for months.”

Sinwar boasted that the IDF will face stiff resistance in Rafah:

Referring to a ground operation in Rafah, Sinwar wrote to Hamas leaders in Qatar that “Israel’s journey in Rafah won’t be a walk in the park.”

Sinwar isn’t going to surrender as seen in this quote:

The WSJ report also noted that Sinwar’s recent messages to Hamas allies illustrate an inclination to die while fighting. He equated the Gaza war to the battle of Karbala in Iraq, which occurred in the 7th century and in which the grandson of the prophet Muhammed was killed. “We have to move forward on the same path we started,” Sinwar said. “Or let it be a new Karbala.”

A Response Given

Although we don’t know what they said, in an article from The Times Of Israel Hamas submitted a response to the US offer:

In a joint statement, the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups express “readiness to positively” reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, in their first official response since US President Joe Biden presented what he said was Israel’s latest offer for a hostage-for-truce agreement.

“The response gives priority to the interest of our Palestinian people, and the necessity of completely stopping the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip,” the statement says.

Why the actual wording isn’t given makes me think that they proposed changes to it. In any event, here is how this article ends:

They add that they have submitted their response to the proposed Gaza ceasefire deal to Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which Doha and Cairo confirm without giving details.

The Hamas response comes after the UN Security Council yesterday adopted a US-led resolution urging Hamas to accept Israel’s latest proposal, as Washington aims to intensify global pressure on the terror group in order to bring about an end to the war in Gaza.

Another report from The Times tells us that negotiations will continue, which again leads me to believe that there are things in it that Israel will not agree to:

In a joint statement, Qatar and Egypt confirm receiving a response from Hamas to Israel’s latest offer for a hostage release-ceasefire deal.

The two countries “confirm that their joint mediation efforts with the United States of America will continue until an agreement is reached, and that the mediators will examine the response and coordinate with the parties concerned regarding the next steps.”

The statement does not mention Israel.

In other reports the changes Hamas is requesting could be that they want Israel to let them survive and leave Gaza with their leadership intact, things they know Israel won’t do, but by asking they increase the pressure on Israel to relent. In a public statement from Hamas found in an article from i24news.tv the poison pill may be this:

“The movement would like to emphasize its readiness to cooperate with the mediators to enter into indirect negotiations on the implementation of these principles that are in line with the demands of our people and our resistance,” a Hamas statement read.

“We also affirm the continuation of our endeavor and struggle… to achieve their national rights, foremost of which is defeating the occupation and establishing an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, the right of return and self-determination”

We should pray that Israeli leadership stands firm and agrees to a deal that gets the hostages home in exchange for terrorist prisoners and nothing more. Personally, I think that Hamas wants to get more for these hostages and would prefer to die fighting if they can’t survive any other way. A Palestinian state with a capital in Jerusalem? That should tell you everything you need to know about any chances of getting a hostage deal.