The United States and several Western countries have spent recent weeks exerting heavy pressure on Israel, demanding that it not enter the Palestinian city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, all under the pretext that a military offensive would cause heavy civilian casualties among the locals.
The leaders of these countries have been obsessively waving slogans of “immediate and sustained ceasefire” as if this is a realistic goal, while pointing a finger at Israel.
On Monday, March 25, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and the United States proceeded to withhold its pivotal veto vote. The council demanded “an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire.” It also requested the release of the Israeli hostages but did not make the truce a condition on this issue.
Who exactly are these leaders preaching to? Who is it that needs to agree to a ceasefire?
The answer is not Israel.
Israelis do not wake up in the morning hoping or looking for ways to kill as many people as possible. In fact, on October 7, Israelis in the south of Israel were planning to wake up and fly “peace kites” as a sign of hope for a better future with their Palestinian neighbors. Instead, Israelis were sent terror parachutes, and we all know what happened next.
The international community in general, and Arab leaders in particular, do not seem to understand the trauma that has continually been engulfing Israel since the October 7 massacre and the abduction of more than 240 people, mostly Israelis. They also do not understand that the war will never stop as long as all the hostages are not freed. The vast majority of Israelis from across the political spectrum are united when it comes to the issue of the hostages.
ISRAELI MILITARY sources believe that many of the Israelis who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, are being held in Rafah, which is very close to the border with Egypt. Those same sources state that several thousand Hamas terrorists have found shelter in the city, among hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
For all intents and purposes, it seems that those who are exerting so much pressure on Israel to stay out of Rafah are showing little to no concern for the fate of these 134 hostages, which include toddlers, women, young men, and the elderly.
While it is true that the international community’s initial response to the Hamas atrocities that left 1,200 people murdered and mutilated on October 7 was unambiguous and firm, now, almost six months after the most horrific massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, we see a very different story. One that is no longer capable of differentiating between the villain and the victim.
The media, which has covered the war extensively from day one, has kept the spotlight off the terrorists, and continues to all but physically arm Hamas and its patrons by delegitimizing Israel with irresponsible headlines, like the dramatic one on the cover of The Economist just last week: “Israel Alone.”
Simultaneously, long-time ally of Israel Sen. Chuck Schumer came out with a scathing attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he described as an “obstacle for peace.” The Senate majority leader had the audacity to call for the removal of the Israeli leader from power. This is not only spitting in the face of Israeli voters, but also further empowering Hamas and all of Israel’s enemies, including the Iranian regime.
Are we surprised that Hamas feels no pressure to release the hostages?
SCHUMER’S STATEMENTS send a message to Iran and its terror proxies that America has thrown Israel under the bus. So, it should be no surprise to anyone that the Hamas leadership is in no rush to free the hostages.
Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh and his cohorts undoubtedly see Schumer’s anti-Israel remarks as further indication of the mounting US and international pressure to end the war. Simply put, the way that Hamas leaders see it is “if we just wait a little longer, Israel will be forced to stop the war due to international pressure and threats.”
Schumer’s feelings toward Netanyahu are irrelevant – what matters is that the timing of his attack has sabotaged the mediation efforts to secure the release of the hostages. Whatever the price was prior to his statements, it just went up by a lot. Hamas will now buckle down and harden their position because they believe they have allies in Washington and other Western capitals and because, well… they can.
Israel has not forgotten about its hostages, and as time passes, many in Israel are worried that their time is running out. Shira Elbag, whose 19-year-old daughter Liri is still being held hostage in Gaza, recently revealed disturbing details about the conditions of the hostages.
Mrs. Elbag has heard personal testimony of hostages who were released last November, who informed her that her daughter had been forced to clean and cook for her captors: “Liri was moved from one apartment to another... They forced her to clean the apartments and prepare meals. But she was not allowed to eat. They even forced her to babysit the Palestinian children of the families that were holding her.”
IT’S WORTH noting that some of the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped the young Israeli females, referred to the victims as sabaya (slaves), an Arabic term meaning female captives. Sabaya is the same word used by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists to describe the Yazidi women they captured in Syria and Iraq and against whom they committed horrific and sadistic acts. This illustrates how deeply inspired Hamas terrorists were by ISIS and its ideology, down to the point of the enslavement of women.
The only times that the Israeli hostages are mentioned at all within Western media is almost always within the context of a possible “prisoner exchange” between Israel and Hamas. This term alone is offensive. It is an attempt to equate the innocent Israeli civilians who are being held hostage by a terror group with Palestinian terrorists serving time in Israeli prison for killing Jews.
Many of the Israeli hostages were kidnapped barefoot in their pajamas from their bedrooms on a quiet Shabbat morning during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. These are the people the world stage has decided to equate with murderers.
As the Israeli public awaits an agreement with bated breath, it is outrageous to watch senior Hamas officials shuttling comfortably between Qatar, Egypt, and Lebanon to engage in negotiations aimed at securing a “prisoner swap” with Israel. These terrorist leaders are living out luxurious lives in five-star hotels where they feel secure (because they are), thanks to the support they receive from their patrons in Doha and Tehran.
AT THIS point it is clear that Qatar, Egypt, and other international mediators are not putting enough pressure on the Hamas leaders, especially regarding the release of the Israeli hostages. Does anyone really believe that Doha and Cairo have no leverage with Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Mashaal and Khalil Al-Hayya?
When was the last time we heard Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani or Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi publicly call on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages? Instead, the two Arab leaders have wasted no time denouncing Israel and warning it against sending troops to Rafah to eliminate the terrorist group’s remaining four battalions and, hopefully, release the hostages.
It was reported on Sunday, that in the most recent negotiations in Doha this past week, Israel has agreed to the release of 700 to 800 Palestinian prisoners in return for the release of 40 Israeli hostages. The prisoners agreed upon for release by Israel include hundreds who are serving life sentences for murdering Israelis in terror attacks. Many Israelis from the Right, Left, and Center are prepared to pay this heavy and painful price in return for the release of their people.
Even former science and technology minister Yizhar Shai, whose son Yaron was killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7, has come out in favor of a deal: “If the release of the despicable Hamas terrorists who murdered my son will bring back our hostages, I call on the prime minister and the government to go ahead with a deal,” he said.
And now the waiting game for Hamas’s response continues.
No one has issued an ultimatum to Haniyeh and his cohorts. No one has threatened to expel the Hamas leaders from Qatar and other countries where they have found shelter. These leaders are perfectly OK with living in luxury while sacrificing tens of thousands of their own people in the Gaza Strip in order to continue holding innocent Israeli civilians.
Hamas leaders want to continue ruling the Gaza Strip even if it means ruling a graveyard. For them, it’s still considered a win.
The writer served in the Foreign Ministry and is a former senior adviser to Israel’s ambassador in the UAE. She is a specialist on the Abraham Accords and a strategy and communications consultant on the MENA region.