If Hamas freed the hostages, there would be a ceasefire in Gaza “tomorrow”. This is what the President of the United States declared, Joe Biden, on the sidelines of a fundraising event in Seattle. A sentence that does not unravel the knot of negotiations between Israel and Hamas, which are currently frozen. Therefore, if on the one hand Washington has promised to block the sending of weapons to Israel, in view of the much threatened attack on Rafah in the south of the Strip, on the other it continues to support Benjamin Netanyahu and his version of events. “Israel said it’s up to Hamas; if they wanted to do it, we could finish it tomorrow.” Thus, for Biden, peace in Gaza, where in the meantime the victims have risen to 35 thousand, would be entirely in the hands of Ismail Haniyeh and his Sunni Islamist movement. For its part, Hamas has always demanded the same thing, but with a reversed cause-effect order, namely: a prolonged ceasefire in exchange for the release of the hostages. A macabre tug of war, where the lives of the Palestinians and those of the hostages fall.
Hamas’ response was not long in coming and, through an official statement, it commented on the American president’s position as “a U-turn compared to the results of the last round of talks held in Cairo”. Negotiations which in the meantime have foundered, after the attacks on Rafah by the Israeli army, which occurred just after the news of the acceptance of the truce by Ismail Haniyeh. “President Joe Biden – the statement continues – continues his military support for the war of extermination against the Palestinian people”.
The families of the hostages against Netanyahu
If Benjamin Netanyahu continues to claim that he is “moving forward to free the hostages and destroy Hamas”, the families of the people kidnapped on October 7th do not think exactly the same way, on the contrary. Demonstrations, torchlight processions, sit-ins under the residence of “Bibi”, interruptions and raids at the sessions of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). For six months now, the protests against the Government have never subsided. Even yesterday, Yom HaZikaron in which Israel remembers its fallen in combat or in acts of terrorism, was no exception. The families of the hostages organized parades and protests to make their voices heard, but above all that of the 133 prisoners – not all alive – who Hamas has been holding for 221 days.
And, as Haaretz reports, when the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, began his speech at the military cemetery in Tel Aviv, protest signs were waved among the crowd that read “Their blood is on your hands”. Same fate for Ben-Gvir, Minister of Security, who was heavily contested at the Ashdod military cemetery ceremony. The Jewish supremacist was labeled a “criminal” and “trash” by some protesters and was repeatedly “asked” to leave the stage. According to the hostages’ families, in fact, the Israeli government is not only not doing enough to bring the hostages home, but is actually, and “without any doubt, preventing this from happening”, as stated by Haim Rubinsteinformer spokesperson of the Families Forum, who in an interview with The Time of Israel made strong statements, which sound like a sentence for Netanyahu.
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“Netanyahu prevents hostage deal”
Rubinstein, in the heartfelt story, retraced all the stages experienced by the hostages’ families, since that fateful October 7, when it all began. “In the first few days, the families of the kidnapped people didn’t know who to turn to. The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] he was unprepared and these people received no information for two weeks.” This is why Rubinstein himself decided to found the Forum organization, to try to help, with every form of support possible, the families who were looking for any answer. Shortly thereafter, the prime minister appointed Gal Hirsch as coordinator between the families and the government, for a very specific purpose: “Netanyahu – stated Rubinstein – created Hirsch’s team because he did not want there to be an external body that criticized him for his conduct towards the hostages”.
Then, on October 26, there was the first official meeting between Netanyahu and the families, which however did not go as planned. “We abandoned the talks because we were very disappointed. There was only talk of dismantling Hamas as the objective of the war. Netanyahu simply said that a military operation in Gaza was necessary as leverage for the release of the hostages.”
Haim Rubinstein discovered later that “Hamas had offered on October 9 or 10 to release all civilian hostages as long as the IDF did not enter the Strip.” However, as is known, the Government rejected the offer and the hostages who are still missing today, whether alive or dead, are 133. The lack of effort to bring them home could be linked to a conflict of interests. “Netanyahu – continues the former spokesperson of the families – knows that when the hostages are released, Bezalel Smotrich And Itamar Ben-Gvir they will leave the Government because they will think that the price to pay is too high [ovvero il cessate il fuoco]”. And “Bibi” and his government coalition need both, both the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Security, the same ones who continue to push for an intense military operation in Rafah.
Claudia Carpinella
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