Akbar Shahid Ahmed is a foreign affairs reporter based in the D.C. bureau of HuffPost. A native Pakistani, Akbar has reported from across the Muslim-majority world.
When Neta Heiman last spoke to her 84-year-old mother, Ditza, her kibbutz was under fire amid the bloodiest assault on Israel in 50 years. Heiman has since learned Ditza was kidnapped by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and taken into the Gaza Strip ― and she is determined to give the world three messages.
Hundreds of Israelis are now living each day with the knowledge that their relatives are in the custody of heavily armed fighters in murky hideouts, vulnerable to further violence in an Israel-Hamas war that could be worse than any that came before. The affected families are rallying together in private social media conversations and public appeals for help.
“That won’t help anyone and will only bring an even more ferocious round of violence the next time,” she said.Historically, Israel has gone to great lengths to free captured citizens, including through prisoner swaps. In October 2011, the government secured the freedom of Gilad Shalit, a soldier held in captivity for five years, in return for releasing more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including some who had been convicted for participating in deadly attacks against Israelis.
“A question for Hamas is, will it execute the hostages in response to Israeli military operations, and the question for Israel is, will it limit its military operations because it’s afraid of Hamas executing the hostages,” Byman said. “Can you reason with Hamas while they’re on the run right now?” asked Yossi Mekelberg, a fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London. “They know what’s coming their way.”
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