Ceasefire deal release of terrorists fraught with security risk

As part of the hostage deal, Hamas wants convicted and unrepentant murderers back.

The real fear now is that as part of a dangerous bargain Israel will release 1000 or more Palestinians, many convicted of terrorism offences, from Israeli prisons. In a similar prisoner release with Hamas in 2011 Israel freed Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attack. The risks for Israel in this deal aren’t hypothetical (“An imperfect peace”, 17/1).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, deserves praise for his successful war leadership. He persevered towards victory even as Israel’s main ally, the US, kept telling him to stop, along with similar calls from many European countries, the Albanese government and even the Pope.

Stopping unilaterally just would have meant a Hamas victory. Our local Israel haters who greeted October 7 with enthusiasm, seeing the slaughter as the start of Israel’s destruction, can now see that it led instead to the destruction of Israel’s enemies. That has been the case with every war Israel has fought.

Anthony Bergin, Reid, ACT

Thank you for the excellent article by Alan Howe (“Palestinians are complicit in the horror of Hamas”, 17/1). Not enough has been written or broadcast in the media about what Hamas did to the innocent citizens of southern Israel.

Hamas is an evil, brutal terrorist organisation and has succeeded in turning many Western democracies against Israel. To our shame, Australia is one of them. We are paying for it, with terrorist incidents aimed at Australians. We need to return to the stance Bob Hawke took.

Rosemary McGeorge, Windaroo, Qld

There will be no peace at all in the Middle East as Hamas will never accept Israel’s right to exist. This is more so when Hamas has the backing of Iran and other affiliates. Western governments such as our own refuse to grasp this.

The proposed ceasefire agreement is blatantly unjust and is unlikely to hold. Only a partial release of hostages is guaranteed, conditional on the release of up to 1000 terrorists from Israeli jails, Israeli unilateral withdrawal and Hamas remaining in control of Gaza. No arrangements are proposed to supervise the ceasefire by independent peacekeepers. These conditions are hardly likely to hold, let alone secure a permanent peace.

The ceasefire arrangements may affect Australia’s security as released terrorists are to be relocated to other nations.

Given the Albanese government’s lack of past security checks on refugees coming from Gaza, there is a chance some terrorists may end up in this country. Calls for the Prime Minister to guarantee this will not happen must be acknowledged.

Peace will be secured only when the international community accepts its responsibility to expel Hamas from Gaza and punish the rogue states supporting it.

Martin Newington, Aspendale, Vic

Now we have all of the people who deserted Israel in its time of need trumpeting how wonderful the ceasefire deal is and how all they wanted was for the hostages to come home and for Gaza to have peace.

Our government refused to fully support Israel to do what was needed immediately to defend itself and return the hostages. It was further compounded by our government’s actions at the UN with its votes in support of Palestine, thus encouraging Hamas.

Who knows how different things would have been if the West had unequivocally condemned Hamas and given unqualified support for Israel?

Closer to home, we are now seen not as a tolerant society but one that sanctions anti-Semitism by inaction and one that has made Australia a less safe place for Jewish people than living in the Golan. We must never forget, especially when an election is imminent, how our current government has deserted our principles in the pursuit of domestic politics.

Nicholas Milns, Maroochydore, Qld

There seems to be very little recognition of Benjamin Netanyahu and his role in the current ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.

Without his resolve and strong leadership, it is difficult to see how Hamas would have come to the negotiation table. More shame on those who criticised him and the Israel Defence Forces for defending their country.

Chris Anderson, Crafers West, SA