Leading Israeli activist and former negotiator with Hamas says he has just learned the militant group would release all hostages in exchange for an immediate end to the bloody Gaza war
An Israeli activist and former hostage negotiator has claimed Hamas will release all of the remaining hostages in exchange for an end to war in Gaza. US-born Gershon Baskin made the announcement as multiple explosions rang out near Palestinians gathering at a controversial Gaza aid distribution centre.
But he added that Israel refuses to end the war which killed another 50 Palestinians today as it is determined to wipe out Hamas completely. Over 50 Palestinians died from Israeli airstrikes and gunfire today and Israel announced it will establish another 22 settlements in the West Bank. The settler announcement has infuriated Palestinians who say it was made under the cover of the Gaza war.
Baskin, 66, said in a statement: “Let it be known, one of the mediators told me today that Hamas is willing to free all 58 hostages at one time but demand the end of the war. The mediator told me: ‘Israel refuses to accept a permanent ceasefire.’
“I repeat what I have been saying for many months – negotiating any deal with Hamas that leaves hostages behind for any period of time puts them at risk and is a declaration by the government of Israel that they are willing to sacrifice the hostages so that Netanyahu can save his coalition.”
Baskin, who helped negotiate the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit i n 2011, said that Netanyahu and his government is putting “their own political interests ahead of those of Israel.”
And he added: “Israel continues to kill innocent people in Gaza. Gaza is totally destroyed – an entire civilization has been decimated by Israel in Gaza. The people of Gaza want Hamas out of their lives and want Israel to end this war. The people of Israel want this war to end and for the hostages to be brought home.
“This war must end now and the only way it will end is when President Trump finally tells Netanyahu to end the war, and to make a deal to bring the hostages home.” And he even declared that Palestinians and their “Arab neighbours” will make Hamas “pay for what they have brought to the Palestinian people.”
Israel will establish 22 Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorization, it has announced.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.
Most of the international community views settlements as illegal and an obstacle to resolving the decades-old conflict.
In 2005, Israel withdrew its settlements from the Gaza Strip, but leading figures in the current government have called for them to be re-established. War in Gaza began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which militants stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.
Hamas still holds 58 hostages, around a third of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements. Israeli forces have rescued eight and recovered dozens of bodies. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.
Gaza has been blockaded for three months, leading to major alarm over thousands of children facing malnutrition. Some mothers have claimed children have been forced to eat animal feed.
And there have been claims Gaza’s dogs are feeding off corpses of the dead, adding to the horror of the war.
