“Can you imagine how slowly time passes when there is no air and you are trying to breathe? Every person with conscience and heart, regardless of his origin or religion, should demand the immediate release of the hostages before it is too late“. Amit Soussana was in the hands of Hamas for 55 days. During her imprisonment she suffered sexual violence, an experience that she had the strength to talk about at the Jerusalem premiere of the film ‘Screams Before Silence’, which documents the abuse mass sexual assaults on October 7th. His appeal to release the hostages comes at a very delicate stage in the negotiations with Hamaswhile the Israeli government is subjected to enormous pressure, both from the families and from Western chancelleries who are pushing to try to get the green light for the agreement.
Netanyahu at a crossroads
Easy to say in words, less so with facts. The ‘hard and pure’ right wing of the executive, represented by ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, continues to threaten to bring down the government if Netanyahu were to give in on the negotiations, giving up the plan to attack Rafah and above all to eradicate once for all Hamas from the Gaza Strip, the declared objective of the war. “Benjamin Netanyahu’s dilemma: save the hostages or his government”is the emblematic title of a recent article in the Financial Times which provides a good snapshot of the state of the art.
Stopping the fighting to free the hostages would allow Hamas to claim victory and many of its leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, would remain at large. Rejecting agreement on a new proposal, mediated by Qatar and Egypt and already accepted by Hamas to push further into Rafah, would risk causing a rift with the United States and leave the fate of the hostages uncertain. An issue in which Netanyahu’s political career and Israel’s security are inextricably intertwined.
Hostage negotiations
But Soussana’s statements relaunched by the Israeli media are the signal of a country now torn apart by seven months of a war that cost the lives of 35 thousand Palestinians and who wants to turn the page. “Somehow I managed to hold on for 55 long days and it is impossible for me to understand how anyone could be there for 215 days when every second feels like a lifetime and every breath could be their last,” she added. And, in the meantime, glimpses continue to alternate that suggest a positive solution and tragic news of hostages who died in captivity. Like Judy Feinstein, a 70-year-old declared dead by the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, following wounds sustained – according to the Palestinian group – in an Israeli bombing a month ago.
For Hamas, every hostage who dies in its hands means less negotiating leverage at the negotiating table. But also a possibility of propaganda. If Israel had not destroyed all the hospitals in Gaza, a Brigade spokesman said, Judy – who needed treatment in intensive care – would have survived. Her words which increasingly throw the families of the hostages into despair. There are now countless demonstrations across the country, in the center of Tel Aviv as well as in front of the residences of prime ministers and ministers. Also this morning a group blocked the Ayalon, the main street of the capital, to ask the government to accept an agreement with Hamas.
According to a poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, a majority of Israelis believe that reaching a hostage agreement is the country’s top national priority, more important than launching a large-scale military operation in Rafah. Negotiations continue feverishly, with the United States personally involved. Today the head of the CIA, Bill Burns, is in Israel, having also visited Qatar and Egypt in recent days.
The story of Noga Weiss
The Israeli press, meanwhile, as if in a great catharsis, continues to tell the stories of those who, once freed from Hamas captivity, managed to build a new life. This is the case of 18 year old Noga Weiss, threatened by her jailer, that she would become his wife and raise his children.
Orphan of a father, killed by Hamas militiamen last October 7 during the assault on Kibbutz Be’eri, Noga was kidnapped together with her mother Shiri and released together with her in November after 50 days of captivity in the Gaza Strip. Now you have decided to join the Israeli army where you will play the role of mashakit tash, or non-commissioned officer responsible for conditions of service, a sort of social worker for soldiers.
Opposite in age to Noga is 84-year-old Alma Abraham, also released during last November’s exchange. Her story is a story of hope. Today, after five months of hospitalization, where she arrived in serious condition, she was discharged from Soroka hospital.
