Israel Pushes For “All Or Nothing” Hostage–Ceasefire Deal As New Hostage Videos Spark Fear
Disturbing new videos released by Hamas show 24-year-old Israeli hostage Evyatar David and 22-year-old Rom Braslavski in visibly fragile states, nearly 22 months after they were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023.
The propaganda videos, which the families have allowed to be published, appear to be an attempt by the terror group to link the mass hunger in Gaza to the condition of the hostages.
At one point in David’s video, the muscular arm of a captor appears, handing him a jar of food — a moment that underscores the psychological torment and makes clear that not everyone in the tunnel is starving. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid.
World leaders condemned the videos, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Israel and the Occupied Territories said the “dire situation must come to an end.”
Tomorrow, following a request by Israel’s foreign minister, the UN Security Council will hold a special session to discuss the fate of the roughly 50 hostages still in captivity, fewer than half of whom are presumed to be alive.
WHAT COULD BE NEXT
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Hamas doesn’t “want a deal,” rather, “They want to break us with these horrifying videos, with the false horror propaganda they’re spreading around the world.”
CNN reports that the Israeli leader is “pushing for the freeing of the hostages through military defeat (of Hamas),” despite concerns about continued war from some hostage families.
As part of that plan, the prime minister is looking to fully occupy the Gaza Strip — 75% of which the IDF already controls. The Israeli military has previously pushed back against this, saying it could put the hostages in danger — as they believe the hostages are being held in areas not currently occupied by the IDF.
U.S. INVOLVEMENT
Late last week, White House envoy Steve Witkoff visited Gaza to assess humanitarian needs as the two million people there face a growing hunger crisis.
On Saturday, he told hostage families that President Trump wants to "shift" negotiations from a phased Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal to an “all-or-nothing” deal to end the war and return the remaining hostages at once.
Trump on Sunday said that he does not “want people going hungry, and we don’t want people to starve. And there’s some bad things happening” in Gaza, but rejected that there was a genocide going on.