Why don't Hamas just release all the hostages?

Thank you @housinglife .
The news is universally so dreadful that I do tend to read it with one eye shut (iyswim) and missed that important detail.🤭.

Last American living hostage. To curry favour with Trump.

It’s not working for the people of Gaza, but Hamas don’t care about them. If they did they’d have sheltered them in the tunnels. Instead they have issued a public statement that they need the blood of their own citizens to fortify their fighters.

People here are ignorant about Hamas. They are Islamists. This is a racist Religious war for them. It’s about destroying Jews and a true ethnic cleansing of them from the land. In their own recordings of October 7th they said, ‘ where are the Jews? Where are the Jewish dogs?’ They didn’t try to hide their racist murderous intent like Westerners do by hiding behind the word ‘Zionist’. They said what they meant.

They are still murdering Israelis in terrorist attacks in Israel, btw, as well as firing rockets.

Didn't I recently read that Hamas had released the last living hostage ?

There are 7 million people in Israel, 2 million of whom are Arabs. So Israel is clearly not ‘Ethnic cleansing Arabs’

There are zero Jews in Gaza.

Hamas are heinous.

I keep asking this exact question OP. Isreal would have no business continuing if the hostages are freed. If they carried on then it would be classed as genocide, but right now the holding onto hostages is validating the onslaught.

the hostages and the Palestinians have been pawns in this game , it’s heart breaking.

They had stopped. And prior to Oct 23 there were massive protests in Israel against the government. Hamas broke the ceasefire and kept Netanyahu in power.

Am I the only one who thinks if Israel really wanted the hostages back they could have gone and got them by about October 9th 2023?

It suits their agenda better for those poor people to be used as an excuse for what they’re doing now.

Long prior to Oct 7th, Israel were occupying Palestinian land and slowly trying to push them out. It seems the intention has always been to cleanse the land of Arabs and claim the land for Israel, despite previous deals. Hamas retaliated in that horrific way on Oct 7th, and now there is a perceived excuse for Israeli govt to fully ethnically cleanse the area, like they are doing now.

Hamas don’t release all the hostages because they know that Israel killing and starving them wouldn’t stop, they’ve experienced that for decades. What’s in it for them is that they have a tiny bit of power after being occupied and controlled for so long. The poor hostages, the poor Palestinian people. It’s a totally grim situation.

No it just means they’ll flatten it as their families at home wont be lobbying for restraint

They are not going to return the hostages because that is their only bargaining chip. Israel surrounds them and is much more powerful and has powerful allies. Israel have said they want to destroy Hamas, that's not going to stop when the hostages return.

It's all a dreadful situation and the poor people of Gaza are trapped and have no means of escape.

Look at the history. 1948-9, the disgraceful events of 1967. The continued invasion of settlers in the West Bank. Israel won't stop ever.

Releasing the hostages will not sort out a dreadful situation but it would be a good place to start

Will you condemn them if they continue to hold their people as ‘prisoners’?

why Don’t they indeed , why kidnap them in the first place as no one can argue it’s gone well for Hamas or anyone else for that matter

It looks and is awful. Historically a lot of aid was thought to be misappropriated - ie building materials that went in to build houses/schools were used for tunnels and military infrastructure. Withholding food looks much more like a strategy to inflict suffering / harm the civilian population / turn the population against Hamas.

I’m Jewish. It’s not what I would be implementing if you put me in charge tomorrow.

You answered it in your op. They want a truce and the return of their people who are being held as prisoners.

I imagine they feel the situation in Gaza is not going to magically end once all hostages are returned.

Israel are doing a great job making themselves look bad and isolating the country from Europe and the US. But Hamas is helping them along magnificently imo.