"Why Doesn't Hamas Release The Hostages?", And Other Reader Questions (Caitlin’s Newsletter, 2025-08-22)

"Why Doesn't Hamas Release The Hostages?", And Other Reader Questions (Caitlin’s Newsletter, 2025-08-22)

https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/why-doesnt-hamas-release-the-hostages———

… Netanyahu has explicitly said that Israel’s attack will not end until Trump’s ethnic cleansing plan to permanently remove all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip has been accomplished. This is not about freeing hostages, this is about a land grab that Israel has been pursuing for generations.

It is of course true that the Israeli government doesn’t care about the hostages, but it’s not accurate to say the hostages aren’t a bargaining chip. Some 2.5 million Israelis are estimated to have filled the streets this past Sunday demanding that their government secure a deal to release the hostages — that’s a quarter of the nation’s population. Numbers like that amount to political pressure, even if the Netanyahu regime itself only cares about the land grab…

CaitlinJohnstone #RedHerring@palestine@lemmy.ml @palestine@a.gup.pe @israel