Hostage czar says international pressure on Israel dampens chances of Hamas accepting deal

There is a “direct and immediate connection between pressure on Israel and Hamas’s appetite for negotiations” on a hostage deal, says government hostage point-man Gal Hirsch, hinting at recent decisions by France and the UK.

“When there is international pressure on us, in the UN for instance, in the Security Council, from different government officials, from the International Criminal Court, from the International Court of Justice, in the hope of taking advantage of tensions between us and Iran, or between Hezbollah… and us, the idea of ‘no daylight between us and our allies’ is important. Very important,” says Hirsch at Reichman University.

“Hamas identifies every ‘daylight,’ every sliver of light, and whenever it identifies ideas like ‘we won’t give you ammunition,’ arms embargoes, removing reservations about the ICC, this doesn’t help us to reach hostage deal.”

“And I said this mildly,” he says with signs of anger.

He says that Hamas sees moves against Israel at the United Nations, the international courts in The Hague, and in other countries as “an achievement of the October 7 attack.”

He also blasts leaks, fake news, and deep fakes about the talks that “torture the families” and make success harder.

Addressing the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, Hirsch says, “I know you are in hell, that the path is hard and torturous, and unfortunately it is long, too long.

“We are working all the time to bring you back,” he says, hoping that some hostages are able to hear the broadcast of the conference. “We will never give up. We will continue to turn over every stone.

“Even though it seems that attention is spread across many fronts, that the war is large and we are being attacked from everywhere, we are not taking our eyes off of you, brothers and sisters,” he says.

Hirsch says that Israel’s attempts at negotiations to release the hostages — which take place continuously, including now — find themselves up against “great difficulties.”

He says that he would like to get all the hostages released at once, though Plan A is still the staged proposal presented by US President Joe Biden.

“But we are unable to get to effective negotiations with Hamas, which torpedoes talks all the time,” says the ex-general. “I am happy that this is said publicly by our friends in the US, including US Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken, [Middle East czar] Brett McGurk, and others.”

Though he laments pressure put on Israel in March “by our friends,” Hirsch speaks at length about the US contributions to hostage talks.