Egypt is negotiating with Israel to reopen the Rafah border crossing into Gaza which has been shut down since May, but was heavily relied upon for aid which Hamas has intercepted, controlled, used for its own military capabilities, and sold on the black market.
According to Arab negotiators, reopening the Rafah border crossing would build on momentum for peace from earlier in the week when Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire. The reopening is part of a broader proposal for temporary peace between Israel and Hamas, in which the Jewish nation and Islamist terrorist group would cease fighting for at least 60 days.
After seven days, hostages captured by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre would begin to be set free. This likely also entails the release of some bodies of hostages slain by the terrorist group so their families can have proper burials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed on Tuesday that the nation will “complete the task of obliterating Hamas,” all but confirming that any ceasefire would be temporary. Hamas, on the other hand, has expressed openness to a ceasefire.
In part to negate Hamas’s control and theft of aid, Israel would at least temporarily maintain a military presence at the border crossing. This has been agreed to by both Egypt and Hamas.
Netanyahu has faced threats from within his own government not to sign any ceasefire without first destroying Hamas, but he is coming under pressure from the families of hostages as well as the Biden administration to come to an agreement to secure the release of hostages and stop the bloodshed.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza health authorities estimate over 40,000 have died in Gaza as a result of the war, but do not say how many of the deceased are Hamas terrorists. Hamas has come under international fire for increasing the casualties of Gazan civilians by building its military sites underneath hospitals and schools, using civilian areas to launch attacks on Israel, and preventing civilians from leaving the war-torn area.
The Washington Examiner spoke with the families of two hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7. The families argued that nothing else matters until the hostages are released.
Michael Levy, brother of hostage Or Levy said that “no one is doing enough” to bring the hostages home. “The fact that they are not here now means that all of us are not doing enough. Not us, not the media, not the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and not all the governments in the world.”
“Currently, 133 hostages are being held in inhumane conditions. … Crimes against humanity, that’s what Hamas is committing now,” he said. “And people talk about a ceasefire without the release of hostages. That’s not something we should even discuss. We need to discuss the release of the hostages, and then we can discuss everything else.”
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Merav Leshem Gonen, mother of hostage Romi Gonen, warned that Hamas is not only a threat to Israel, but to Europe and the United States and said, “The way we learned, [with] my daughter’s life which is in danger now because she’s in the hands of Hamas, the whole world will learn itself by the same wave if they will not take action” against the terrorist organization.
“The only thing that is relevant is how the world wants to look at itself, if it’s been on the right side of the story or not,” she added.