How has the Israeli government handled the hostage negotiations?
A thread 🧵
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#Palestine #Gaza #WestBank
On October 7th, Hamas first offered to release all the hostages for all imprisoned #Palestinians.
The next day, Israel's Finance Minister said Israel must "hit Hamas brutally and NOT take the matter of the captives into significant consideration".
2/15 apnews.com/article/palest…
That same day, the Israeli ambassador to the UN said:
"We want to see everyone who was abducted back home, BUT right now our focus is to obliterate Hamas terrorist capabilities".
3/15 edition.cnn.com/2023/10/08/eur…
In response to the Israeli ambassador's statement, Israeli NGO @btselem warned:
"This raises serious concern that Israel has no intention of working towards a deal – and is willing to abandon the [Israeli] captives to their fate".
4/15 btselem.org/press_releases…
On October 9th, an Israeli journalist described how in the past, when Israeli soldiers were held captive:
"Reasonable exchange offers were made" to Israel "at an early stage", but the Israeli government "rejected [them] – and later regretted it".
5/15 buzznet.co.il/news/local/134…
On October 14th, the Israeli government's National Security Advisor said:
"We have no way of negotiating with an enemy we wish to wipe off the earth".
Hamas has repeated its offer many times, but Israel has dismissed it:
6/15 haaretz.co.il/news/politics/…
ynetnews.com/article/hjv5rr…
Also on October 14th, an Israeli journalist wrote:
"Seeking to destroy Hamas means deprioritizing the return of the [Israeli] hostages. … [It] would cost the lives of many soldiers [and] seal the fate of the hostages".
7/15 calcalist.co.il/local_news/art…
On October 16th, a former Israeli hostage negotiator, who had negotiated a deal with Hamas in 2011, said:
"[Israel's] primary objective today is to remove Hamas from its ability to govern. That means that hostages may be sacrificed".
8/15 nbcnews.com/nightly-news/v…
On October 24th, the Israeli media reported:
"Israeli officials emphasize that Israel currently has no intention of releasing Palestinian prisoners as part of getting the hostages released".
9/15 news.walla.co.il/item/3618142
According to the same report, Israeli officials admitted:
"Once [Israel] launches a ground operation, it would become nearly impossible to make any progress with freeing the hostages. ... [Some] hostages ... [might have already] been injured by [Israeli] airstrikes".
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On October 27th, Israel launched its large-scale ground offensive in #Gaza.
In response, Qatar (which is brokering the hostage negotiations) said that Israel's offensive had made these negotiations "considerably more difficult".
11/15 timesofisrael.com/qatar-warns-is…
Indeed, a few days later, the Israeli media reported that the hostage negotiations "had broken down following the [Israeli] ground incursion".
12/15 haaretz.co.il/news/politics/…
On November 20th, a senior Israeli minister was quoted as saying:
"Netanyahu is trying to prolong the war as much as possible. It's in his interest. And that is the reason [for his claim] that there was no offer [by Hamas] to release hostages".
13/15 haaretz.co.il/opinions/2023-…
And yesterday, the Israeli Finance Minister said that Israel's aim in "destroying Hamas" is to "ensure there's no one to talk to on the other side".
14/15 haaretz.co.il/news/politics/…
There's more information on Israel/Palestine in the following threads:
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