Analysis

Journo: Israel-Hamas Prisoner Exchange Talks Blocked by US’ Ceasefire Veto

Israel’s behavior shows it has little regard for the safety of prisoners taken by Hamas, which has said there will be no more talk of releases or exchanges until there is a ceasefire, a journalist told Sputnik. Recently, Israeli soldiers shot three hostages carrying a white flag, prompting mass demonstrations against the war in Israel.
Sputnik
Israel has pressed ahead with its all-out assault on Gaza, with the latest reports indicating it’s given evacuation orders for Khan Yunis, a southern city it previously told Palestinians to flee to from the north. Almost the entire population of 2.3 million people in the strip has been displaced by over two months of war, and nearly 25,000 people have been killed.
In Warsaw, talks between US, Qatari, and Hamas negotiators had sought the release of both Israelis held by Hamas as well as Palestinians held by Israel, until those talks fell through earlier this week. In the wake of their failure, Hamas issued a statement that "There is a Palestinian national decision that there should be no talk about prisoners or exchange deals except after a full cessation of aggression."
While the Israeli assault on Gaza has been justified by Netanyahu’s government as aiming to both destroy Hamas as an organization and to liberate the hostages taken from nearby Israeli border towns on October 7, only one has actually been released by the actions of IDF soldiers, with about half of the roughly 240 hostages being released by Hamas voluntarily as part of a “humanitarian pause” last month. By contrast, last week the IDF publicly apologized after its soldiers shot and killed three hostages in Gaza who were carrying a white flag.
Esteban Carrillo, editor of online news magazine The Cradle, told Sputnik that Israel has never shown much regard for the safety of Israelis in Palestinian custody, regardless of their claims otherwise.
Analysis
‘Their Only Playing Card’: US Talk of Two-State Solution ‘Cover’ for Israel’s ‘Genocide’ in Gaza
“That has been exactly the practice, that they've been killing their own captives,” Carrillo said. “Even on 7 October, it seems that many of the deaths were caused by the Israelis. That's what the evidence points at.”

“As far as another prisoner exchange, you also need to consider what Hamas has said and the other resistance factions fighting in Gaza, and that is there will be no other prisoner exchange until the war stops, before actually letting humanitarian aid in. So what is holding this up is Israel and the United States, because Israel wants control of the trucks that are coming into Gaza because they don't trust the UN. So if that falls into place, then of course there's a possibility. It seems like Hamas is setting out a requirement. They're not saying ‘we're not going to see a prisoner exchange’, they're just saying ‘we need a ceasefire first’,” he said.

“And Israel is saying, the national security minister, this extremely anti-Arab and politician, said today that if the war slows down, like the United States has been trying to get Israel to agree to, then he would leave the coalition,” he said, referring to Itamar Ben-Gvir of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), a right-wing party that advocates evicting and banning all Arabs from lands under Israeli control.
“You know, this man comes out every two weeks, every three weeks and says the same thing, because the moment his party leaves the coalition is the moment Netanyahu no longer has a majority in the parliament. And that’s the moment that Israel is plunged once again into chaos, into electoral, political chaos. So they don't want to. The Israelis really, they don't care. They see themselves as untouchable. That's what they're telling the world: ‘we are untouchable’.”

“Even look at what's happening with Yemen. You know, the Arab world's poorest country is doing more for the Palestinians than everyone in the Western world and most of the countries in the Arab world as well. And what does the United States do? They create a naval coalition to confront Yemen, to protect Israel, and they want the Arabs to take part in this. So, it's a lot of backroom dealing, a lot of ways to prolong this war, there doesn't seem to be any concerted effort to actually end it.”

“At some point, you would hope that the UN will do its job and press for a ceasefire. It feels like The United States is just standing in the way, they're too comfortable standing by and watching while tens of thousands of Palestinians get killed, millions get displaced, and nobody lifts a finger and Biden is just concerned about his poll numbers.”
Discuss