”The State of Israel must choose: either hostages or war”. This is the ultimatum of the families of the Israelis, kidnapped during the Hamas assault on October 7th, after the diffusion of the video in which the hostages Omri Miran and Kith Segal are seen, still alive. In recent days, the video of another hostage, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old with dual Israeli and American citizenship, had been published as proof of life. ”Entering Rafah will bring with it more hostages murdered in captivity or their deaths in war. Entering Rafah will be another way for the abductees to die. Israel must choose to get the hostages back”, reads the note released by the families to the media.
The families are also calling on War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz and observer Gadi Eisenkot to work to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The video with the two hostages
“The situation here is not pleasant, it is difficult, there is a lot of bombing. Sometimes we have the feeling that it is getting worse. I ask the prime minister and the entire government to participate in the negotiations.” This is what Keith Siegel, a 64-year-old hostage with dual Israeli and American citizenship, says, who appears, together with 46-year-old Omri Miran, in the video published today by Hamas. Siegel then asks the hostages’ families to “do everything possible and continue with the protests” to bring about an agreement. “I have seen the demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem several times”, he added in the video, in which a date does not appear, but there is a reference to Jewish Easter, the Pesach holiday which is being celebrated between the 22nd and 29th April. The hostages also point out that they have been prisoners for 202 days.
Hamas: “Little chance that Israel’s proposal will be accepted”
There is little chance that Israel’s latest proposal for a hostage deal will be accepted by Hamas ”without substantial amendments”. A senior Hamas official said this on condition of anonymity to the Lebanese newspaper al-Mayadeen close to Hezbollah. ”The proposal that was presented by the Israelis does not reflect a fundamental change in their position. It does not provide clear answers to the question of withdrawal from Gaza and a total ceasefire,” the official said without providing details on the proposal.
WSJ: “For Israel there is no alternative to escalation”
”There is no alternative to escalation” in the Middle East, ”there is no other way out”. An Israeli official declared this to the Wall Street Journal, underlining that ”Israel cannot stop now, if it did it would be dangerous for itself and for the entire region”. The analysis comes from Israel on the same day that Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General, Naim Qassem, spoke of ”a full-scale war” to put an end to the Israeli presence on the border with Lebanon.
