Why won't Hamas release all the hostages ?

[JI7]

Why are hostages still being held ? if they have been killed then they can turn their bodies over to Israel.

[RandySF]

1. This thread will be very quiet.

[EX500rider]

2. I assume all the remaining ones are either dead or too abused to be released

[bottomofthehill]

27. And there is the problem

The abuse. Once released, the horror stories are told and the lust for revenge heightens.

[wnylib]

46. Also the sympathy for the Hamas cause would diminish.

[dutch777]

3. The only bargaining chip they have that Israel cares about. Even the bodies...sickly and sadly.

[JI7]

5. Bargaining for what ?

[dutch777]

6. Hamas prisoners in Israeli custody. Plus the IDF has to worry every tunnel etc. they blow up may have Israeli hostages

in it. In the first prisoner exchange Hamas gave back like 81 Israelis and 24 other nationals seized by Hamas but Hamas got back 240 Palestinians.

[JI7]

9. Then those calling for ceasefire should call for return of all hostages

[dutch777]

15. That was part of what the US voted for in the last UN vote for a ceasefire, although the resolution had no teeth

The other reason Hamas is so willing to hang onto the hostages is the longer they have them the more it makes the Israeli government, and really the UN too, seem impotent and inept. Hamas knows they have no way to defeat Israel militarily so its all a PR game for them.

[brooklynite]

58. so Hamas prisoners are also hostages?

Sort of like Jan 6 defendants are “hostages”?

[womanofthehills]

63. Netanyahu will not stop the genocide if the hostages are released

Has anyone heard him say that??

[JI7]

65. There was no genocide going on when hostages were taken

[kelly1mm]

4. Terrorists gonna terror ...... nt

[TheKentuckian]

7. Because doing so has been permitted to be optional

and the Hostage takers are allowed to think they have leverage rather than an unrelenting and ever ratcheting death sentence.

More simply said, the cost of keeping them has not exceeded the leverage they think they have.

The delusion should be be made clearly false and should have been made false from the jump.

Apparently the situation is somehow unclear to too many Palestinians that holding hostages makes for some refuge or an avenue to some advantage instead of purchasing the whirlwind and utter destruction so the lesson must be stressed more severely for the stone slow to catch on.

Perhaps clearer benchmarks have to be made so they can better understand their progress or lack thereof.

[dembotoz]

8. they fear they will be exterminated

[RandySF]

11. As they should.

[kelly1mm]

14. Rightly so and maybe not right away but Israelis have long memories for those needing killing ..... nt

[TheKentuckian]

16. I'd suggest the distance to destruction was healthier before the hostages were taken at all

and anyone too slow to get that can only learn from much clearer demonstration of how off base that dim thought is.

[betsuni]

23. Malcolm Nance explains, 10/7 was a suicide mission, Hamas wanted an apocalyptic war and

needs lots of dead Palestinian civilians to gain support with the muslim world (support of terrorism surprisingly caught on in the West too). They're not afraid, it's the plan. Terrorists don't fear death and don't care about civilians.

[sheshe2]

51. This.

In addition the terrorists/hamas don't fear death because they have all their hiddie holes to burrow in while they watch Palestinians die. They don't give a damn about their people. They are just collateral damage for their cause.

Those tunnels are well stocked with ammunition and food and water supplies.

They are doing exactly what they wanted to accomplish when they started the heinous attack on Israel. They want all of Israel, all Jews held responsible for the actions of Bibi. I have seen it here, the condemnation of Israel as a whole. Think about that for a minute, now think of what might happen under a trump regime. If he attacked another country, destroyed it...would the world collectively blame all Americans for his actions?

[NickB79]

38. Some people need a good exterminating

Hamas member being pretty high on that list.

[Emile]

10. Is Israel still attacking Hamas?

[RandySF]

12. It's not easy since they hide among the civilians,

[JI7]

13. Are hostages still being held by Gaza ?

[Emile]

18. Is Hamas still attacking Israel?

[JI7]

19. Yes, including holding onto hostages

holding the hostages is a continuing attack.

[Emile]

21. Well the OP has it's answer. The war continues.

[LeftInTX]

43. They fired rockets into Israel today. They heard that Israel downscaled their troops, so they react by firing rockets.

From today:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/five-rockets-fired-from-khan-younis-at-gaza-border-communities-hours-after-idf-withdraws-ground-troops/

Five rockets were fired from the Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip at communities near the border.

According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system. There are no reports of injuries or damage.

The rocket fire comes hours after the IDF withdrew all troops from southern Gaza

[Silent3]

17. Apart from other reasons other posters have mentioned so far, don't forget how loosely Hamas is organized

There is no clear, strictly-observed chain of command or information sharing in Hamas. To the limited extent that there was such organization before, a lot of that would be destroyed now.

There's probably no one who knows the status and location of all the hostages, and there are probably hostage holders with their own agendas and/or opinions of who they should answer to about releasing their hostages.

[sarisataka]

20. There are three related factors

-they don't want to
-they don't have to
-the percentage of the world's population that cares what happens to the hostages can be counted on your thumbs.

[LisaM]

36. Yes, they have vanished from the narrative.

Contrast that to the hostages held in Iran in 1980. The world has turned. (And those hostages were held in far more favorable circumstances).

[liberalhistorian]

22. Because they don't care about their own

people any more than the fascist corrupt genocidal Netanyahu and his Likud party do. Because they care more about destroying Israel than the lives of Palestinians. Because they don't give a shit about the hostages or any other Jews.

[SYFROYH]

24. I would think Hamas believes Israel will unleash if the hostages are safe.

Just my guess.

[TheKentuckian]

26. That confusion can be cleared up by unleashing until they give up then.

[Patton French]

25. What hostages?

Hamas saved them from horrible Israel.


In case that’s needed.

[enid602]

28. Starving

Wouldn’t you think the hostages are starving?

[TheKentuckian]

30. They would not be if they had not been taken or were released

[enid602]

32. Let them eat

So why not let them eat?

[TheKentuckian]

41. There is no restriction on feeding hostages.

[oldsoftie]

40. For some, it WOULD be needed. nt

[Ace Rothstein]

42. That's not sarcasm on Islamist and leftist Twitter.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

29. I fear that many of the hostages are dead

[betsuni]

33. Agree.

[Takket]

31. it's the only tactical bargaining chip they have

[republianmushroom]

34. Answer to first question, because they have be executed.

Second question, they will have to admit they killed them.

[marble falls]

35. Why won't Netanyahu stop the war and talk to Hamas himself. He certainly wasn't shy around Hamas ...

... in the past.

He made a deal with Hamas and degraded the PLO.


https://www.thenation.com › article › world › why-netanyahu-bolstered-hamas
Why Netanyahu Bolstered Hamas | The Nation
Dec 11, 2023The ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza has been singularly useful to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in sidelining popular anger at his government's numerous failings. The massive protests ...

https://www.timesofisrael.com › for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces
For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it's blown up in our faces
Oct 7, 2023Most of the time, Israeli policy was to treat the Palestinian Authority as a burden and Hamas as an asset. Far-right MK Bezalel Smotrich, now the finance minister in the hardline government and ...

https://www.haaretz.com › israel-news › 2023-10-20 › ty-article-opinion › .premium › a-brief-history-of-the-netanyahu-hamas-alliance › 0000018b-47d9-d242-abef-57ff1be90000
A Brief History of the Netanyahu-Hamas Alliance - Haaretz
Oct 20, 2023Oct 20, 2023. Much ink has been spilled describing the longtime relationship - rather, alliance - between Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas. And still, the very fact that there has been close cooperation between the Israeli prime minister (with the support of many on the right) and the fundamentalist organization seemingly evaporated from most ...

https://www.haaretz.com › israel-news › 2024-04-05 › ty-article › .premium › the-gaza-war-shattered-all-assumptions-leaving-israel-scrambling-without-a-plan › 0000018e-ad3d-d029-a78f-fd3f6c140000
The Gaza War Shattered All Assumptions, Leaving Israel ... - Haaretz
1 day agoThe fundamental beliefs that led Israeli policy for years collapsed on October 7 and still haven't been replaced, the result being that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is threatening to spread across the Middle East - and perhaps beyond ... While Netanyahu believed in the power of the schism between the PLO and Hamas and between the ...

https://www.nytimes.com › 2023 › 12 › 10 › world › middleeast › israel-qatar-money-prop-up-hamas.html
How Israel Secretly Propped Up Hamas - The New York Times
Dec 10, 2023Dec. 10, 2023. Leer en español. Just weeks before Hamas launched the deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the head of Mossad arrived in Doha, Qatar, for a meeting with Qatari officials. For years ...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk › world-news › 2023 › 10 › 16 › how-benjamin-netanyahu-empowered-hamas
How Benjamin Netanyahu empowered Hamas... and broke Israel
Oct 16, 2023This flawed strategy turned Hamas from "a minor terrorist group into an efficient, lethal army with bloodthirsty killers who mercilessly slaughtered innocent Israeli civilians", said Mr

[JI7]

45. There was no war when they hostages were taken

[sheshe2]

53. Correct.

Thank you.

[marble falls]

56. Right, and then Israel started a war instead of negotiating, Netanyahu negotiated Hamas into Gaza ...

... and the West Bank.

[niyad]

48. Thank you.

[TomDaisy]

37. Because Netanyahu hasn't negotiated for their release. Only Biden has.

[Beastly Boy]

50. Hamas wants something in exchange for hostages.

And should they get it, guess what they will do the next time they want something.

Do you realize the insanity of blaming the captivity of the hostages on terrorists not getting what they want?

[TomDaisy]

59. the answer then is clearly to leave the hostages where they are. problem solved.

[Beastly Boy]

61. I pity this reply.

As if this is the only alternative. If the "progressives" were half as vocal about demanding the release of hostages as they are about charging any random falafel joint owner with genocide, Hamas would be far more amenable to releasing them.

It didn't occur to you to consider this as a clear answer to solving the problem, did it?

[TomDaisy]

64. just following your lead

[oldsoftie]

39. because terrorist animals always keep civilians as their protection.

Just like they almost always attack civilians instead of military targets; in reality they're cowards.

[aggiesal]

44. Leverage n/t

[0rganism]

47. Why the hell would Hamas do that?

The hostages are valuable bargaining pieces, even the dead ones as long as it's not known if they're alive or not. Hamas will be looking for major concessions for any hostage returned alive.

Plus, the IDF beating the shit out of Gaza has been an excellent tool for Hamas. Why do something that might interrupt Israel while it's making a huge mistake? Hamas would then have to go to the trouble of committing more atrocities in Israel to provoke a continued destructive response, and it won't be nearly as easy to take hostages next time.

[Behind the Aegis]

49. Because Israel and (((reasons)))

Y'know.

[Aussie105]

52. Let's assume that:

The hostages on both sides are dead.

Neither Israel of Hamas know how to, or want to, de-escalate the conflict.

The rest of the world doesn't really care enough to intervene in an effective way. (Including America.)

The media around the world lose interest, if they ever had any.
(Local Australian talking head on TV, after the whole life story of ONE of the aid workers who was killed was played over and over - 'Gosh, this really brings it home, doesn't it?' Woke up because an AUSTRALIAN was killed? None of the other thousands of deaths registered because NOT Australian?)

Where to from here?

I'm guessing - more destruction, deaths and starvation.
Until one side runs out of humans or the other side runs out of weapons of war.

[Martin Eden]

55. They likely think the hostages are a bargaining chip

And once they trade that chip they have nothing left to bargain with.

Just speculation on my part.

Why do you think they haven't released the hostages?

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

57. in the past, a few hostages has lead to Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners

probably Hamas is hoping to get thousands of prisoners released

[jalan48]

60. They're probably all blown to smithereens by now.

[Bucky]

62. Why does evil exist?

These are nihilistic zealots. They grasp for power because they don't have any. Their only source of power right now is holding on to those hostages. Why on Earth would they be motivated to let them go?