2023-11-27 21:40:04
The hostages released by Hamas and the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel so far were “simple to release”, according to Wassim Nasr, a specialist in terrorism issues at France 24. These did not have much value in terms of negotiations, which shows that the two parties are only at the beginning of a process which will become more complicated as the requests for release concern important figures.
Published on: 11/27/2023 – 10:40 p.m.
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Eleven new bi-national hostages released by Hamas on Monday November 27, including three French, two Germans and six Argentinians. A figure which brings the total number of hostages released to 69 since the start of the truce on November 24. At the same time, Israel released 150 Palestinian prisoners, including three women and thirty minors on Monday evening.
Leaving aside the nineteen releases of hostages negotiated outside of the agreement with Israel – one Russian-Israeli, seventeen Thais, one Filipino – Hamas has so far only released women. , children and the elderly.
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“It’s not surprising, because we must not forget that these are the most complicated people to keep in terms of logistics, analyzes Wassim Nasr, specialist in terrorism issues at France 24. By releasing them, Hamas is freeing itself actually a burden, because taking care of young children or elderly people who have to be moved regularly still represents difficulties.”
“Hamas is a cynical movement, so it has of course chosen its list in such a way as to optimize the media effect to its advantage,” adds Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif), interviewed on November 24 by Europe 1. “Of course he chose children to give himself an honorable and charitable face in a certain way, but let’s not be fooled, this emotion which passes through us all at that moment is part of Hamas’s communication strategy.”
“Hostages whose value is less”
Furthermore, the approximately 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas during its October 7 attack which left 1,200 dead in Israel each have a market value. However, not all hostages are equal during this type of negotiation.
“Hamas is currently releasing hostages whose value is lower,” emphasizes Wassim Nasr. As proof, we are currently on a ratio of one hostage for every three Palestinian prisoners released by Israel, while the last ratio, at the moment of the release of the Franco-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, was one hostage for more than 1,000 released Palestinian detainees. Hamas knows that it holds many other hostages that it can monetize in other ways, in particular the military and senior officers of the Israeli army.”
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On the Israeli side, in accordance with the agreement concluded with Hamas, the 150 prisoners released are only women and young people under the age of 19, accused or convicted of having attacked Israelis in the West Bank and Jerusalem, but without having killed them.
“We see that for both parties today, the people who are liberated on both sides are those for whom ‘it goes without saying’, for whom it is simple, underlines Wassim Nasr. We have not yet entered into the hard part of negotiations. Because when Israel begins to consider the release of people who have much more value for Hamas, it will be much harder to justify to Israeli public opinion and to the Israeli army itself. -even.”
“Hamas is gaining popularity in the West Bank”
Because the man behind the October 7 attack and who leads Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinouar, was precisely one of the 1,027 prisoners released in 2011 in exchange for Gilad Shalit. And if Hamas was able to secure that many releases twelve years ago for a single soldier, it’s easy to imagine that they would want to request at least that many for every soldier they hold today. “We are only at the beginning of the process,” agrees Wassim Nasr, while there are more than 7,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
In the meantime, the releases obtained over the past four days allow Hamas, against a backdrop of political stagnation, the development of colonization in the West Bank, Israeli raids on Gaza and the normalization of relations between Arab countries and Israel, to score points.
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“Even if there have not yet been any significant prisoners released by Israel, they represent added value for Hamas in the context of its competition with Fatah, underlines Wassim Nasr. After having chased out his rival still in Gaza in 2007, Hamas is now gaining popularity in the West Bank.”
A recent survey relayed by the Israeli daily Ha’Aretzcarried out from October 21 to November 7 by the Arab World Research and Development Group (Awrad) in the West Bank and in three cities in the south of the Gaza Strip, shows that nearly 59.3% of those questioned support ” fully the military operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance led by Hamas on October 7″.
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