Forces had no direct confrontation with Hamas terrorists who killed hostages; ‘The IDF and security forces are doing everything possible to bring all hostages home as quickly as possible. This news shakes us all,’ says army spokesperson Hagari
Israeli forces discovered the bodies of six hostages in a 65-foot-deep tunnel in Rafah, approximately a kilometer from where hostage Farhan Alkadi was recently freed. The IDF had no precise intelligence on the hostages’ location in recent months but knew there were captives in the sector, leading to a gradual and cautious operation in Rafah since the ground offensive began.
The hostages seem like the only bargaining chip they have (not that it’s much of a bargaining chip), so I’m surprised they’re doing it. Maybe they’ve decided that it isn’t worth it.
Probably frustration and despair. If your bargaining chip can’t get you a bargain, all they’re worth is ‘revenge’ against your opponent.
What a fucked situation.
Thinking on it, it was probably also costing them what are now valuable resources to keep them alive. When it’s near impossible to get in and out of Gaza, food, medicine, etc. are worth their weight in gold.
So instead of letting them free they murder them?
Why would they let them free when they consider them the enemy?
If you don’t have the resources to provide for your POWs, the correct solution is parole, not execution.
How would you propose safely paroling them? There’s already examples of released hostages then being killed by the IDF.
Any type of parole has to be at least marginally less dangerous for the hostage than execution.
If they die either way, no it isn’t.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Alon_Shamriz,_Yotam_Haim,_and_Samer_Talalka
Sounds equally dangerous to me.
Execution has a kill rate of 100%.
Even if paroling is stupidly risky, the ods of death are still <100%.
It would also be seen positively by everyone and one propaganda piece less for Israel to use.
Let’s argue with reason and not pretend that because it has happened before it will happen every single time. Cock-ups happen everywhere.
They did what you suggested with those specific hostages. It was not seen positively by everyone.
They also did it with other hostages that the IDF didn’t kill. It was not seen positively by everyone.
So you’re right, let’s argue with reason. We can reason that what you’re suggesting doesn’t work based on what they’ve already done.
I put as much faith in this as I do the hospital tunnel story.
Anything the IDF says is to be treated as bunk without at least 2 corroborating sources. The IDF lies like they breathe, so I’m more willing to assume they killed the hostages to make Hamas look bad than anything they actually say.
It’s entirely possible this is total nonsense, but I could also see them realizing that keeping them alive was an exercise in futility and, as I suggested in another comment, a waste of precious resources like food.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, it could maybe possibly be true. We’re just getting it from a serial liar, so the message is untrustworthy on its face.
I’ll be extremely saddened if I’m wrong here, because those people didn’t deserve this. But given Israel’s long history of blatant lies in the name of PR against anything Palestinian, I’m not going to believe it until a credible source backs up their statement.
Israeli history isn’t even a necessary consideration. The messaging of any warfighting party should always be taken with appropriate caution.
If someone is willing to wage war to achieve their goals, some propaganda efforts are certainly not out of the question. Factuality cannot really be confirmed until after the war is over, and the area becomes safe for neutral parties to visit. Active warzones are just not fountains of factual and verifiable reporting though.
Depending on how recently they were executed, it makes perfect sense. As the one holding hostages, you want to set the precedent that the only way to get them out alive is via negotiation.
They died recently enough for the bodies to be quickly identifiable. No DNA tests necessary or anything apparently.
Is Hamas even that disciplined to act as a unified front? Management or soldiers on the site could’ve decided themselves to take a revenge on hostages. Especially if they new they are cornered and there were no use of keeping them alive if they are deadmen too.
Sounds like they were retreating from the area, and didn’t want to bring the hostages with them. In this case, executing the hostages makes strategic sense, as it reinforces the threat that you are willing to do so.
They also have dead Palestinian kids that they’ve intentionally placed in harms way, entire cities they use as human shields, you know, for sympathy.
“Martyrdom” they call it.