Hostages

[TakeMe2Insanity]

This is running on Al Jazeera and others - apparently Israel refused to take back two hostages.

https://english.alarabiya.net/amp/News/middle-east/2023/10/21/Hamas-says-intended-to-release-two-hostages-but-Israel-refused-to-receive-them

A female prisoner that was released speaking in the street as everyone celebrated the releases praised Hamas for being the only ones who cared. Just shown on the BBC news. As she was praising Hamas the story ended quickly. It made me realise how much some believe in Hamas there so if Hamas continues its stated aim to carry on attacking Israel then this war will continue a long time. 😪

Update
According to the guardian it has now been confirmed that 14 Israeli hostages will be released aswell as 42 palestinian detainees

The names of the hostages have been given to the Israeli military although they haven't been disclosed to the general public yet

Like yesterday some of the families of the hostages might mention themselves if they have been informed of their loved ones being released but it seems will only be confirmed once they have been released

They are celebrating as you would expect and more hostages and prisoners to be released so perhaps they you cannot celebrate isn't completely accurate?

@XRAYTHIS I see the concern but I also saw one interview where one female detainee last night said the whole time the war was happening she was in solitary confinement. She didn't know anything about the outside world until after she was released and this interview was only a couple of hours after her release

due to that It could be possible that she does not know exactly what has happened but acknowledges that she is being released because of the efforts of Hamas

I also saw another detainee say she was upset when she realised after she came out that her release came after the bloodshed of so many

Saying that im not denying there is some support for Hamas

Oh dear. That won't end well. Israel want to get rid of hamas and hamas are meeting released prisoners. 🙄

Al Jazeera obviously thought better of drawing attention to who was welcoming the boy prisoners home and clearly identifying the boys and removed the article and photos later in the evening without comment or explanation

Thank you for this. It's a very difficult situation. It's worrying where it will go

Those Daily Mail comments on the article are vile:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12788733/Palestinian-arrested-16-border-guard-knife-attack-Israel-release-inmates.html#comments

@Jupitersstorm it's not surprised it's the daily mail. They should delete them.

Agreed. Hoprrible comments.

I don't know why this exchange wasn't done several weeks ago. It would have been better for hostages and perhaps got aid in sooner to Gaza. Why did the Israeli government spend so long saying release must be unconditional, it seems to just have delayed the inevitable. I'm glad it's going well so far, at least.

Out of interest have they also removed the images of them waving Hamas flags?

Strange that they should do that at all considering so many insist they were all innocent of any wrongdoing, but anyway it's too late since screenshots will have been taken

Al Jazeera links have been used so much on this board and yet clearly thats not a trustworthy source.

As far as I can remember the flag waving photos were on the Guardian live-feed, - just waving the Palestinian flag is on offence - doesn't need to be a Hamas flag to get you in trouble

Agree the boy shaking the Hamas fighters hand and the boy standing next to him would be easily identified from screenshots - obviously they won't have organised the meet n greet or the photo op - ?more guilty by association

Think I should say the celebrating was loud and boisterous but didn't become violent or turn into a riot. Can't see that police/army involved or any arrests

This was on the BBC today how the system used in the west bank to imprison Palestinians is different to what is used for Israelis

Sari Bashi, the programme director for Human Rights Watch, told the BBC many Palestinian prisoners are held without charge, under a system known as administrative detention.
"They're being held based on secret evidence that the Israeli authorities say they have which says that they are dangerous.

"Human Rights Watch has particular concerns about the sweeping use of administrative detention...For others who have been either charged or convicted of crimes we have serious concerns about the Israeli military justice system that applies in the West Bank to Palestinians but not to Israelis."

There’s a video of a child released from an Israeli prison telling a tv crew he was told he would be re-arrested if he was seen celebrating his release. He looked cowed and fearful. They’ve also been told not to talk about their experiences in prison- clearly as Israel has nothing to hide in their treatment of these poor children.

I hope he bothered to wear his helmet and press jacket. I saw both Mark Stone? and Secunder Kermani the day before yesterday reporting from the West Bank wandering around in just shirt, no helmet, no press sign nothing. It looked quiet but if something kicked off they wouldn't have been identifiable.

Al Jazeeras fact based reporting is fine IMO - it's often copy pasted to the BBC, Guardian etc livefeeds about an hour later

Their political opinion pieces are biassed - so don't generally read them but their magazine articles eg embroidery in Palestine seem okay

Isn't it interesting get a view the world from other peoples perspectives sometimes?

Hamas were also present at the release of the hostages so its not surprising they would be there at the return of Palestinians aswell.

It seems the number of Palestinians being released today has been reduced to 39. The future remains fluid.
There have been no further updates on Israelis released, it remains at 14.

This is from another thread but still relevant I think.

Support for Hamas has increased apparently in the West Bank after the first release of Palestinian prisoners .
So you could be right there.
I wonder how things would pan out though if both sides agreed to a two state solution with no military involvement on either side.

This is not surprising.
Academic analysis prior to the ceasefire and during negotiations stated there is always an escalation in activity before and after a ceasefire.
We saw that already in the few days and particularly the night before this one.

There may be a small reprieve and thank goodness a release of hostages but with that comes even more senseless bloodshed

Ms Bashi is a respected person in this field.
It would be useful to view evidence to support these "serious concerns." That is - she is making allegations but your quotes does not contain evidence.

Update and it's a positive one!

According to Egypt
'Positive signals' from 'all parties' for extension of Gaza truce by one or two days
An extension could lead to the "release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails", Mr Rashwan added.