Why don't Hamas just release all the hostages?

[springbabydays]

First time wading in here but reading this morning's developments, it says Hamas have offered to release 9 hostages in exchange for a 60 day truce and some prisoners.

Why not release all hostages to end the war?

What's in it for them to prolong this? They are clearly not going to 'beat' Israel.

What does ending the war look like to you?
(I have no runner in this race.)

They are a death cult. Putting Israel in a situation where it overreaches, causes disproportionate harm to Gazans (who Hamas don’t give a toss about), images of Gaza being starved, Israel acting inappropriately - it’s great PR for Hamas. If they returned the hostages that would likely stop. It’s not in their interests.

A permanent truce, I guess?

Although I know it's never been sweetness and light between them, I suppose back to before 7th Oct 23.

OK so prolonging the war makes Israel look bad on the world stage and that's the reason?

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.

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.

Right @JustGoClickLikeALightSwitch nobody comes out of this looking good. Why are Israel stopping aid, for example? I get they're angry but...

But they will never know until they do?

Onlookers like me will surely condemn Israel if they continue bombing after the return of all hostages.

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.

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

Do the population of Gaza support Hamas?

I can't see either way. And if they did but then turned against them what could they do anyway? They are weak, they couldn't exactly rise up!

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

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

Not sure I follow the question sorry?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hamas are heinous.

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.

A tiny bit of power, but for what? It's not working for them is it?