What’s Israel doing to rescue hostages in Hamas captivity?

Israel is infuriated after the unprecedented Hamas attack left at least 900 dead. But the nightmare continues for the Jewish nation, even as the military has threatened a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have been targeting the densely populated enclave; the airstrikes left more than 680 Palestinians dead and displaced 123,000. Hamas, in retaliation, has said it will kill an Israeli hostage every time a bomb hits a Palestinian home.

Since Saturday’s assault, Israel has been pounding Gaza. Over the past three days, residential buildings, hospitals, schools and a mosque have been damaged, according to reports in the media.

Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida issued the threat to kill those kidnapped during the attack and now held captive in Gaza. He said a hostage would be killed for every Israeli bombing of a civilian house without warning, reports Al-Jazeera.

Does the hostage situation give the Palestinian terrorists an upper hand? Will Israel back down? We explain.

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How many hostages has Hamas taken?

Israeli authorities believe up to 150 hostages are being held in Gaza as it lays siege to the enclave to “obliterate Hamas terrorist capabilities,” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations was quoted as saying to CNN. Speaking to journalist Kaitlan Collins, Gilad Erdan said, “We have an unprecedented number of hostages,” estimating the number was between 100 and 150.

Israel has not divulged specific details of those kidnapped by Hamas. Military officials say that the captives include children, women and older people, most of whom were captured from small Israeli downs near the border with Gaza.

Officials from the United States, France and several other countries have said they were looking into reports that their citizens may be among the captives, according to The New York Times (NYT).

Most hostages were taken by Hamas and the second militant group Islamic Jihad, which claimed it is holding more than 30 captives. Palestinian civilians who entered Israel may have also taken captives, a report published in The Guardian on Sunday said.

While the identity of hostages is not known, relatives have shared photographs of those missing on social media platforms and news organisations.

Where are the captives being held? How safe are they?

The exact whereabouts of the hostages are not known. In a statement on the Telegram app, Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said that it had hidden “dozens of hostages” in “safe places and tunnels of resistance”.

Hamas has a network of tunnels which it uses to travel without being detected and move weapons.
There are unverified reports that the Israeli military has targeted the tunnels in northwestern Gaza by deploying a powerful type of bomb, a bunker buster, according to Al Jazeera.

On Monday, Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said that four Israelis being held by the militants were killed in Israeli bombardment overnight, along with the Palestinians holding them captive. The claim could not be independently verified, reports NYT.

A day after the attack, images and videos of militants taking Israeli civilians captive emerged. Some were seen hooded, others with their hands tied; some were injured. However, many of these videos remain unverified.

Does Israel have a plan to rescue hostages?

Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed Gal Hirsch, a retired general, as coordinator for the captives and missing.

Amid complaints that the Israeli government had abandoned those missing or kidnapped, he said, that “we are creating a full situational picture and are working at full strength to create an effective system”. “We have heavy missions ahead of us, and I am with you in the campaign to bring all the missing and kidnapped back home to Israel,” added.

Centres have been opened by the Israeli military and police for families to register missing relatives, asking them to bring photos and items from which they can gather DNA samples, the NYT reports.

Does the hostage crisis give Hamas an upper hand?

The Palestinian militant groups will use the hostages as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Israel for a prisoner swap. Thousands of Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons with many convicted for their involvement in terrorism and other security offences.

On Monday, Reuters reported that Qatari mediators held urgent calls with Hamas officials to try to negotiate freedom for Israeli women and children seized by the terrorist group and held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 36 Palestinian women and children from Israel’s prisons.

The ongoing negotiations, which Qatar has been conducting in coordination with the United States since Saturday night, are “moving positively” said the source, who has been briefed on them.

However, there have been no signs of a breakthrough yet.

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Will Israel slow down the attacks on Gaza?

Israeli ambassador to the UN told CNN that while authorities hoped those held captive would return home safely, their situation would not “prevent us from doing what we need to do in order to secure the future of Israel”.

“We expect the Red Cross, we expect all international organisations to focus on these hostages and how they are treated and that they receive treatment according to international law, but it’s not going to stop us, prevent us from doing what we need to do in order to secure the future of Israel,” Gilad Erdan said.

Israel has called more than three lakh soldiers, including reservists, to join the fight amid signs that they are preparing for a major ground invasion of Gaza. On Monday, it declared a “complete siege” on the territory, warning that electricity, fuel, and water would be cut off.

So it is unlikely that Israel is going to slow down the offensive.

But what about the safety of hostages?

Israel is known to place high value on its citizens. It has in the past made lopsided prisoner exchange deals in return for its people or the remains of its soldiers. Will this time be different?

A source familiar with the development is quoted by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz as saying, “Most of Israel’s international efforts are focused on receiving legitimacy to execute broad attacks in Gaza, and not on freeing the hostages.”

However, this is only going to anger the Israelis. Experts say they will not “forgive” their leader if rescuing hostages is not a priority. “The citizens’ attitude would be ‘you have failed to ensure our security, bring us the hostages back’,” Sylvaine Bulle, a French sociologist studying Israel, told AFP.

The government is unable to negotiate for now, said Kobi Michael, a researcher at the Tel Aviv-based INSS think-tank. “With all the sorrow, with all the pain… the hostage issue cannot be the first priority,” he said. “Israel will reach to the hostage issue only with the upper hand and when Hamas will be defeated and weak, not a second before.”

With inputs from agencies