Israeli citizen kidnaped by Hamas
The New York Times reported that there are hopes for a three part ceasefire. This would include the return of the remaining 136 Israeli citizens still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. In exchange, Israel would be expected to release thousands of Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails.
There would also be a “reshaping” of the Palestinian Authority (PA) The PA has been responsible for the administration of the Palestinian autonomous areas in both Gaza and the West Bank since the implementation of the 1993 Oslo Accords. But since it enacted a coup in 2007, the Hamas terrorist group has been in complete charge of all of the Gaza Strip.
The Times reported that American officials and those from certain Arab nations are discussing overhauling the leadership of the authority and having it take control of Gaza after the war ends, assuming power from Israel and Hamas.
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But the Israeli government says that the PA has itself been involved in enabling terrorism and that it would not want to see it in control of Gaza, insisting Israel keep a security presence there.
Finally, American and Saudi officials are pushing Israel to agree to conditions for the creation of a Palestinian state in exchange for Saudi Arabia forging formal ties with Israel for the first time.
Israel’s leaders, however, continue to insist that the fighting will not end until Hamas is destroyed.
On Saturday night, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement quoting Elkanah Wiesel, and IDF reservist killed in Gaza last week saying, “‘Our crushing victory is more important than anything. Continue at full force so that our victory will be even more crushing. These were the final words written by a heroic fighter.”
“In this difficult week in which we lost heroic fighters, I reiterate before you, citizens of Israel, our commitment to fully implementing their testament and achieving all goals of the war: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel,” declared Netanyahu himself.
“We will never forgive what the Hamas monsters did to our daughters and our sons,’ he added. “Therefore, there is no alternative to total victory. We must win – and we will win.”
A week long truce in November saw the release of 136 hostages held by Hamas, including a large number of Asian foreign workers who were taken captive from Israeli towns on October 7. There were 8 Israeli hostages released – women and children – in exchange for 240 women and teenagers held in Israeli prisons on terrorism charges.
The youngest Israeli held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza is Kfir Bibas, who turned one year old in captivity. In her almost four months as a hostage, there has been no proof of life offered by Hamas terrorists who at one point reneged on a promise to release her in the prisoner exchange held in November.
Her four-year-old brother Ariel and her parents are also still held captive.
