Some of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza are presumed to be in serious condition and incapable of surviving much longer in captivity, a senior security official told Channel 12 Friday, as pressure increases on the government to accept a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with the terror group.
“We know that some of the hostages will not survive much longer in the conditions in which they are being held, and in light of their physical and mental health,” the senior official told the news station in a report aired Friday.
The source stressed that this was not an assessment or a guess, but a matter on which Israel had clear information.
“The thought that they are being held in relatively good conditions, like Noa Argamani and the hostages released in the [special forces] operation, is incorrect,” he added, referring to a rescue mission in June that saw four hostages released in notably good condition relative to having lived in captivity for eight months.
“And the argument that they are ‘suffering but not dying’ does not hold up to scrutiny,” the source continued, referring to comments attributed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a cabinet meeting in July.
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Thirty-nine of the 111 hostages still held by Hamas after October 7 have been confirmed as dead by the IDF.
The anonymous comments come one day after the US, Egypt and Qatar — the mediators in hostage-ceasefire talks — put out a joint statement calling for a deal to be finalized without delay.
“It is time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families. The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal,” said the statement published by Qatari state media.
Israeli hostages pictured after their rescue from Hamas captivity in Gaza on June 8, 2024. From left: Shlomi Ziv (IDF); Andrey Kozlov and Almog Meir Jan (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90); and Noa Argamani (Courtesy).
According to the statement, after working “tirelessly” for months, the mediators are ready to present Israel and Hamas with a final proposal, with only the details for implementing the agreement yet to be worked out.
“As mediators, if necessary, we are prepared to present a final bridging proposal that resolves the remaining implementation issues in a manner that meets the expectations of all parties,” said the statement, which was signed by US President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
They called on Israel and Hamas to restart talks in Cairo or Doha on August 15 to seal the final details and begin implementing the deal “without further delay.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later put out a statement saying, “Following the proposal of the US and the mediators, Israel will send the negotiating delegation on August 15 to the location decided upon in order to finalize the details for the implementation of the framework agreement.”
The proposed deal envisions three stages. During the first stage, to last six weeks, Hamas would free all the women hostages, including soldiers, in addition to men over the age of 50 and ill and wounded civilians. In return, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners it is holding. A lull in fighting would also begin.
During that phase, indirect negotiations would start over details of the exchange that would take place in the second phase, when soldiers and remaining men would be released, also in return for Palestinian prisoners. The ceasefire is to continue during negotiations. In the second phase, Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip and a permanent end to hostilities would be announced. The third stage deals with Hamas releasing the remains of deceased hostages and the rebuilding of Gaza.
A key sticking point has been Hamas’s desire to see the deal bring an end to the war, while Israel demands the right to return to fighting after the first stage if need be.
“If you want to go for a partial deal, there is no problem to resume fighting with all strength after the 42 days of the first stage,” a senior security official has told Israeli political leaders, according to Channel 12 news, while also arguing “the Israel public does not understand the size of the blow that Hamas took.”
“Besides [Yahya] Sinwar, almost all of the military leadership from [Muhammad] Deif to [Marwan] Issa, through the brigade and battalion commanders, no longer exists,” the official reportedly added.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right member of the security cabinet, put out a statement opposing the proposed deal.
“It’s really not the time for a dangerous trap that sees the ‘mediators’ dictate to us a ‘formula’ and force upon us a deal of surrender that will flush down the drain the blood we have spilled in this most just war we are waging,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Smotrich added that the deal would “leave Hezbollah on the fences of northern residents and grant a prize to terror and the Iranian attacks against us” and “severely erode Israeli deterrence and its reputation in the Middle East, portraying it as a weak protectorate state and driving away its friends in the moderate Arab countries that signed peace agreements with it out of respect for its strength and independence.
“I call on the prime minister not to fall for this trap and to not agree to even the slightest movement from the red lines he set very recently, even though they are also very problematic.”
Last month, Netanyahu declared four “non-negotiables”: any potential deal must prevent weapons from being smuggled into Gaza from Egypt; allow Israel to resume fighting until all the goals of the war are achieved; prevent the return of thousands of armed terrorists to the north of the Gaza Strip; and maximize the number of living hostages Hamas turns over.
During the October 7 massacres, which saw Hamas kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, the terrorists also kidnapped 251 individuals.
It is believed that 111 of those abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
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