Feel like once the hostages are handed over Israel will start bombing again

Haha some on here probably think in a similar vein.

I think Trump could win the Nobel Peace Prize next year if the organisation isn't too left skewered. As long as peace holds which so far it just about does.

I think some people really refuse to see the connection between Hamas being elected into power and Israel (and Egypt) subsequently implementing a blockade.
As far as I know there was no blockade straight after Israel’s withdrawal in 2005 and for the next two years, despite the Palestinian side starting to fire rockets at Israel shortly after the withdrawal.

@Wedonttalkaboutboris "Being responsible for your citizens doesn’t give you a free pass to starve, bomb, or displace."
Agreed.

I think people forget that Hamas are the government in Gaza not Israel. Israel ceded control of the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Why should anyone say Israel is awful just because you say that Hamas is? Why are you drawing a parallel between a whole country and a terror organisation? Would you call Gaza awful?
People have criticised individual actions of the Israeli government on this board.

What a load of typical deflection to focus on the phone calls rather than the fact that Israel are holding into bodies themselves and the inevitability of difficulty in finding bodies (some of which are 2 years old) in the ruins of Gaza.

I guess it's easier to deflect. Pretty obvious though. Beloved Israel can do no wrong. They can kidnap, and torture and hold onto the dead, and you'll not utter one word of criticism of them. At least I can say that Hamas are awful. You can't bring yourself to say the same about Israel.

Just incredible. I think the phone calls probably tip the balance in favour of Hamas getting the Nobel Peace Prize next year.

Agree. Soooo kind of them to let the hostages ring their families after two years in captivity 🙄
Reminds me of when that activist woman Yvonne Ridley was being interviewed by Julia Hartley-Brewer last winter and said that the hostages had been treated well by Hamas, because look, they even gave them goodie bags upon release!

They allowed some to make phone calls in the morning to their families before they release, which wasn't something they had to do.

Agree @SharonEllis. Hamas must be top lads. We must be misunderstanding them after all.

I think @Alittlefeedbackwouldbenice may not have considered they shouldn’t have been holding random people they kidnapped, when invading, slaughtering and raping civilians in a neighbouring country, for two years anyway.

That was very clear.

Juuuuust waiting for everyone to go back to what’s left of their homes and for aid workers etc to start to arrive, then they’ll find some excuse to bomb them again.

No, you're right, apologies. Hamas are jolly decent chaps. I'm sure they genuinely thought they had them all & wouldn't dream of upsetting anyone.

I'm tired of this equivelance being drawn between the hostages and the released Palestinian prisoners. 250 of those released were convicted of extremely serious terror offenses. That's not hypocricy.

I honestly think Israel's best bet might be the death penalty in future, it will stop kidnappings of their citizens to leverage future release of terrorists.

What's the name of the released prisoner whose family was told not to "express joy", btw?

No, the ceasefire agreement had provisions relating to the bodies locations not being known, so this was anticipated as a likely problem.

I can understand why the relatives want the bodies back, but it's disproportional to kill further Gazans to achieve this.

You have no evidence that it's Hamas deliberately withholding them, they may be, but it's also obvious that some will be difficult to locate, perhaps most will be. Also given the lack of cold storage, and unavailability of DNA testing, it's not surprising that there was a mix up with a body. The locations the bodies have been stored in may have been destroyed, those responsible for those locations killed etc.

What we do now is they returned the living hostages as agreed, on time. They allowed some to make phone calls in the morning to their families before they release, which wasn't something they had to do.

In contrast, Israel changed the locations of return of many of the prisoners, meaning they cannot be reunited with their families. At least one family experienced violence when the IDF paid a 'visit' the night before their brother was released. Others had threatening calls telling them they must not show any joy over release.

Israel have bodies that they literally have sat in a readily accessible freezer that they are not returning, and that's ok,, but you are critical of the inability of Hamas to dig bodies out from below buildings, where they may or may not be found, with their bare hands.

Such hypocrisy is staggering.

Well the ceaesefire agreement acknowledged the importance of the bodies to the families who, in many cases have been tortured with not knowing what had happened to them until more recently. Just as important is the fact that Hamas has chosen to torment the families and the Israeli nation as a whole. It shows they are still acting in bad faith. Where do you draw the line when they breach agreements?

They can't be allowed to get away with it.

I agree.

Yes of course all the bodies that can be returned, should be returned. Likewise for the ones Israel hold (that they could return, but really are choosing not to)

But with a fragile peace, widespread malnutrition, winter setting in soon, the sick needing evacuation, and most of a population of 2 million displaced, returning of bodies from either side really shouldn't be the priority. The dead are beyond help, the living are not, so they should be the priority now.

Like you aren’t set on repeat.

Tells me everything.

Yawn.

Was Amna Ashraf al-Mufti Hamas? Were the newborn babies denied formula Hamas too?

Yes. It seems unlikely they are all traceable to me.

Sorry, I didn't realise we were discussing your priorities.

@camomilelawns, who you were replying to, was talking about bodies.

The ceasefire agreement, and common decency, require the release of the bodies of the murdered hostages. The body of one woman has not been released.

We are talking about living hostages here. The women were released ages ago. I hope all the bodies of those who died are returned, but my priority is for the living, not the dead.

If anyone else is stupid enough to try and govern Gaza, let’s see how they get on with it.
When Hamas are dressed as civilians, and when killed are reported as being civilians, they won’t do any better.

When was Inbar Hayman released?

@Alittlefeedbackwouldbenice

" Way to show that you haven't been following this."

No need to be sarcastic when someone asks a question.

Some of us have other activities in our lives than being snippy on forums, like going to work and paying taxes.