Thread by @sfrantzman

I just don't understand how it's possible that Israel got to this point of the negotiations and never got a list. It doesn't make sense. It's like a lot of things that don't make sense about this war. For instance, remember how reports claimed Sinwar had lost contact with Hamas commanders and battalions...and at the same time we were being told that the hostage talks were ongoing...how can you have talks when the people holding the hostages are not even in contact with their leaders? It's obviously all orchestrated from the country that hosts Hamas, and one has to wonder...who is really in charge and driving this whole thing.

The war between Israel and Hamas always asks us to suspend disbelief. Like we're told "you see there were increased pressure for a hostage deal over the last month and so Israel finally asked for a list of the hostages that are alive"...really why wasn't that a condition to even have the talks?

Now here's the thing...imagine this was a cartel and a cartel kidnapped 240 Americans or Europeans or something in some country...and then the cartel leadership was hosted by a western ally...and so the host country was brokering talks with the cartel...and then you were told five months after it happened that despite months of talks that actually now was the time to get a list from the cartel of who is alive?

See, it makes no sense. Hamas in Gaza is supposedly defeated in many fronts...but it still holds the hostages...even if its leaders aren't always in touch with their commanders...and YET...the host country of Hamas is brokering talks and basically running the plays for Hamas...and the US and Israel show up at the talks and despite months of this...someone finally says "you know can we get a list of who is actually alive"?

It will never make sense because nothing makes sense in all this. One day the public is told that talks are almost near finishing and here is the 40 people who will be released...but then the next day "well we don't even have a list of who is alive"...well how can you have talks about something when the people being discussed may not be alive?

Hamas also already did this...during the first talks it was supposed to release women and children (elderly women and mothers and children actually)...and they pretended they couldn't "find" all of them...and played Israel along and then didn't release the Bibas family and did this macabre thing of claiming the mother and two children had perished.

But instead of holding Hamas to account...Israel then did this weird deal for medical aid for the hostages with zero verification...and of course the medical aid was never given to them...but no problem...keep trusting Hamas.

So now we get to March 3...and we get this new story from Hamas that they can't turn over a list of names...that they require concessions just for the names? Why is Hamas always seeming to be in charge of these talks via its host country that seems to advise it on this?

Something doesn't make sense in this whole process and if you begin to look seriously at it, it's very concerning. Clearly the hostages deserved a lot more than five months into this...not evening knowing who is alive and who holds them etc? Very concerning.

Since logic would dictate that any negotiator would want this list from the get-go...one could conclude these talks were never serious...but the US was supposedly pressing for this...how is it the US can't get this list from its own "NON-NATO ALLY"...that hosts Hamas.

How can we be told on the one hand that all these countries are very serious and know all sorts of things...but the very basic thing such as "ok, we need a list of who is alive" wasn't the first thing one asks every week during the round of meetings..."we need proof of life"

Is the real story that just no one involved in this has put the hostages first...and that Hamas runs everything somehow with its patrons/handlers/hosts...and so everyone is kind of just playing along a staged script of Hamas...and Hamas doesn't care about providing this list, so no one gets it...but how did Hamas become more powerful than Israel, Egypt and the US and other countries...unless there is more behind the curtain?