Civilian hostages weapons of war

Extending the Gaza ceasefire until Thursday AEDT offers the prospect of a few more Israeli hostages being released. Israel values the lives of every one of its citizens, unlike Hamas, which puts Palestinians, including the sick, in harm’s way as human shields. But in agreeing to the two-day extension, Israeli authorities were right to reject the terrorists’ preferred option – an open-ended truce that would afford Hamas more time to regroup and rearm.

Announcing the extension on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military leaders assured the public: “Israel will resume its operations with full force, as soon as the current deal expires.” That is as it must be. Joy, mixed with sadness, in Israel and across the world about the return of the hostages released so far is understandable. But no one should be deceived by the cynical public relations strategy Hamas is using in the crisis to play on the respect that exists in the civilised world for human life and decency.

Since Friday, Hamas has released about a dozen hostages each day in return for three times that number of Palestinians from Israeli prisons. The latter were tried and convicted of crimes, some small, some serious such as attempted murder or supporting terrorism. During the exchanges, sight is being lost of the fact the hostages should never have been captured and that they have endured seven weeks of hell, some returning to face the loss of family members murdered on October 7.

Foolish teachers dressed up like Palestinians, the actors on stage at the Sydney Theatre Company and 300 journalists who signed a petition that would play into Hamas’s hands need to grasp the truth – the only reason the hostages have been released in dribs and drabs is to influence world opinion in the hope pressure will force Israel to agree to a ceasefire.

Hamas, The Wall Street Journal noted, “is manipulating the world, including the Biden administration”, using the hostages to divide opinion, even in Israel. There, the division is between those who want to prioritise the hostages and those who know Hamas must be definitively destroyed. Every day the truce is prolonged, the WSJ notes, “the more time the jihadists (will) have to regroup, slip out of Gaza, rearm or plan more ambushes against Israelis. And the longer (the truce) lasts the more the odds increase of an extended ceasefire”. The decision about that will fall on Israel, even though Hamas is unlikely ever to release all the hostages, who are its main source of leverage. Hamas does not have to make such a call because it considers civilians, including Palestinians, to be expendable weapons of war, which is why it hides in hospitals and schools and kidnaps women and children to serve its murderous ends.

US President Joe Biden has called for a longer truce, as have other Western leaders. They should leave that devilishly difficult decision to Israel, which will face a dilemma on Thursday when dozens of hostages, including service personnel, remain in captivity.