"50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 4-day Gaza truce"

[Jayhawker Soule]

Times of Israel: Cabinet okays deal for release of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 4-day Gaza truce

Good. Still, I fear that we will look back on this October 7th war only to recognize that Hamas won.

 

[metis]

Times of Israel: Cabinet okays deal for release of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 4-day Gaza truce

Good. Still, I fear that we will look back on this October 7th war only to recognize that Hamas won.

Ya, I'm also suspicious of the "end game".

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Ya, I'm also suspicious of the "end game".

I am not suspicious. I'm simply certain that there can be no acceptable outcome as long as antisemitism and the occupation are allowed to stand, and I see no meaningful appetite to eradicate either scourge.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

I know of the family of one of the hostages. Omer Neutra grew up on Long Island (where I live). His parents, Ronen and Orna, came to the U.S. from Israel, and their son Omer was born in Manhattan one month after the 9/11 attacks on this country.

Omer had taken a gap year from Binghamton University (a NY state university) in order to go to Israel and connect with family and roots there. Omer was 21 when he was taken hostage. He would be 22 now, if he is still alive.

Here is a picture of Omer that his parents have provided for the public.

 

[Quagmire]

***Thread Moved to Current Events***
(That means no debating, guys)​

 

[esmith]

Well welcome news that some hostages were released, now we have to wait and see if all this did was give Hamas a breathing period; as most cease fires do.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Well welcome news that some hostages were released, now we have to wait and see if all this did was give Hamas a breathing period; as most cease fires do.

The release was delayed.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

Thirteen Israeli hostages, women and children, have been handed to the Red Cross, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. Israeli officials confirm that a preliminary list of names of the hostages has been received and that they are in touch with families.

A group of twelve Thai nationals was also released, Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said. "We should know more about their names and details, please stay tuned," Thavisin added.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Also released were 39 Palestinians -- 24 women and 15 children. I suspect that in many (if not most) cases their release was way, way overdue. I wish them peace/salaam.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

Also released were 39 Palestinians -- 24 women and 15 children. I suspect that in many (if not most) cases their release was way, way overdo. I wish them peace/salaam.

The children were teenagers. I wish them all peace/salaam, as well.

@Jayhawker Soule - Beautiful that you paid tribute to Vivian Silver in your sig. "Vivian Silver was a Canadian-Israeli peace activist and women's rights activist. She was killed during the Be'eri massacre, a part of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel."

 

[Debater Slayer]

The children were teenagers. I wish them all peace/salaam, as well.

@Jayhawker Soule - Beautiful that you paid tribute to Vivian Silver in your sig. "Vivian Silver was a Canadian-Israeli peace activist and women's rights activist. She was killed during the Be'eri massacre, a part of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel."

I hadn't heard of her. I looked her up and found tributes to her from Arab sources too; it seems that her activism was appreciated widely:

Israelis and Palestinians pay tribute to peace activist Vivian Silver killed in kibbutz attack

Former B'Tselem board member Vivian Silver confirmed among those killed during the 7 October attack on Beeri

www.middleeasteye.net

The world needs more people like her. Rest in peace.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

The children were teenagers.

I suspect that's likely true.

Nevertheless, I find it disturbing that news concerning the Palestinians seems minimal and delivered almost as an afterthought.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

I suspect that's likely true.

Nevertheless, I find it disturbing that news concerning the Palestinians seems minimal and delivered almost as an afterthought.

Al Jazeera news provides coverage. They've also included the names of the Palestinians who have been released so far. I wish I could find a list of the names of the Israelis who have been released. I know that Omer Neutra isn't going to be among them, but I'm still happy for those who will be reunited with their families. May the families of both Israelis and Palestinians have their hearts eased a bit with these reunions. I don't know whether we can hope for peace in the immediate future, but I pray for at least channels of communication to open between both sides.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Aljazeera news gives good coverage. They've also included the names of the Palestinians who have been released so far. I wish I could find a list of the names of the Israelis who have been released.

Interesting:

• I've been seeing the names and pictures of the 13 Israelis all morning on CNN.
• A Google search on "names of hostages released" returns a number of links.
• I did not notice a list of Palestinians on either Aljazeera or the Qatar News Agency (QNA) when I looked early this morning, but I just now found this -- thanks.

Let me add this from The Times of Israel to my list of concerns:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed yesterday that Israel had successfully negotiated the inclusion of a clause in the hostage deal for the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit all of the Gaza hostages who remain in the Strip after the deal.​

​

But the Red Cross issues a statement saying it has not been updated about such plans, which directly involve its staff.​

​

“Since October 7, 2023, the ICRC has continuously asked for the release of all hostages held in Gaza and their humane treatment. We haven’t stopped doing so and will continue as long as it takes.​

​

“Thus far, the ICRC has not been made aware of any agreement reached by both parties related to visits by the ICRC to the hostages. Should visits be agreed upon, the ICRC stands ready to visit. The ICRC does not take part in the negotiations between the parties to the conflict.”​

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Also released were 39 Palestinians -- 24 women and 15 children. I suspect that in many (if not most) cases their release was way, way overdue. I wish them peace/salaam.

More information is available from The New Arab. I was not previously aware of this publication.

Note that according to Wikipedia:

The New Arab or Al-Araby Al-Jadeed (Arabic: العربي الجديد) is a pan-Arab news website headquartered in London. It was first launched in March 2014 as an online news website by Qatari company Fadaat Media. It went on to establish a daily newspaper in September 2014. In 2015, Fadaat launched Al Araby TV Network as a counterweight to Al Jazeera, which is viewed by the BBC to hold a pro-Muslim Brotherhood bias.​

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

Interesting:

• I've been seeing the names and pictures of the 13 Israelis all morning on CNN.

Thanks! Found it! Israel names 13 hostages released by Hamas in Gaza: Full list

• Yafa Ader, 85
• Danielle Aloni, 44
• Emilia Aloni, 9
• Aviv Asher, 2
• Raz Asher, 5
• Doron Katz-Asher, 34
• Hanna Katzir, 77
• Ruthi Monder, 78
• Keren Monder, 54
• Ohad Monder, 9
• Adina Moshe, 72
• Margalit Mozes, 77
• Hannah Perry, 79

Shabbat Shalom, Jay.

Peace to all. I'm signing off now for Shabbat.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Peace to all. I'm signing off now for Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Wikipedia summarizes

​

Itamar Ben-Gvir (Hebrew: אִיתָמָר בֶּן גְּבִיר; born 6 May 1976) is an Israeli lawyer and far-right politician who serves as the Minister of National Security. He is a member of the Knesset and leader of Otzma Yehudit.​

​

Ben-Gvir, a settler in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has faced charges of hate speech against Arabs and was known to have a portrait in his living room of Israeli-American terrorist Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian Muslim worshipers and wounded 125 others in Hebron, in the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. He removed the portrait after he entered politics. He was also previously convicted of supporting a terrorist group known as Kach, which espoused Kahanism, an extremist religious Zionist ideology.​

He deserves to be viewed with absolute contempt. Still, I was struck by a 21 November Times of Israel article under the headline:

Ben Gvir warns against 'disaster' of a hostage deal, slams 'idiocy' of war cabinet​

A few paragraphs down one can read:

"... The rumors are that the State of Israel is once again going to make a very, very big mistake in the style of the Shalit deal.”​

​

“You remember that we released Gilad Shalit, we let out [Yahya] Sinwar and his friends and brought this trouble upon ourselves,” Ben Gvir added.​

​

The deal referred to by Ben Gvir took place in 2011 and saw Israel release 1,027 security prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas in 2006 while serving in the Israel Defense Forces.​

​

Among those released in the deal were prominent Hamas members Husam Badran, who now serves as a spokesperson for the terror group in Qatar, and Yahya Sinwar who leads Hamas inside the Gaza Strip. Sinwar is thought to be a key mastermind of the October 7 onslaught in southern Israel in which at least 1,200 people were killed and some 240 were kidnapped.​

A more general review of some of the consequences of the 18 October 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange can be found here.

I hope the current prisoner exchange continues. I hope that it facilitates an end to the trauma being felt in Israel and the carnage being inflicted on the innocent population of Gaza. I even hope that it leads to the elimination of the Netanyahu-Gvir-Smotrich cancer in Israel and Muslim Brotherhood control in Gaza as a precondition for revisiting a 2-State solution.

But it's a labored hope.