While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has stepped up the offensive against Hamas in areas north of Gaza, killing “numerous” militants and attacking underground infrastructure and other “significant” targets in the Zeitoun district of Gaza City Jabalya, important developments are emerging on the hostage front. Some teams from the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, appear to have lost contact with the groups responsible for monitoring the hostages. This was confirmed by the spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, quoted by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. He did not say how many of the approximately 240 hostages held in the Gaza Strip were untraceable or what fate these people held captive by the Palestinian terrorist organization had suffered. “The fate of the prisoners and kidnappers is still unknown,” the spokesman said Abu Obaida. But the announcement risks further complicating mediation efforts to free the hostages in exchange for some Palestinians in Israeli prisons, Bloomberg points out. The reasons for the sudden cessation of communication with these groups were not disclosed and remain unknown.
The hostages’ families reach Jerusalem
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Israelis joined the families of the hostages being held Gaza at the end of a five-day march he reached Jerusalem recently. In fact, a demonstration is currently taking place in front of the Knesset to call on the government to secure the release of all hostages, public broadcaster Kan News reported. Representatives of the hostages’ families will meet the former defense minister this evening Benny Gantz and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, members of Israel’s War Cabinet, as confirmed by Haaretz. Quoted from Times of Israel, Kobi Ben Ami, whose two family members are detained in Gaza, said the families plan to meet with ministers and ask them what they plan to do to bring the hostages home. Many relatives of those detained in Gaza said they felt abandoned by the government. The march reached the capital at around 3pm before turning into a protest outside the Prime Minister’s Office at around 4pm. As protesters entered the capital, they were greeted by city residents with yellow balloons that read, “Take them back home.”
Biden’s appointment and negotiations with Qatar
In recent days the President of the United States Joe Biden had a telephone conversation with the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, The White House later confirmed the “urgent need” to release the approximately 240 hostages “without further delay.” Meanwhile, as reported in Il Giornale on November 17, the body of a Hamas hostage has been found near al-Shifa hospital. It’s about Yehudit Weiss, a 65-year-old who was kidnapped by militiamen on Kibbutz Be’eri on bloody Saturday, October 7th. Additionally, on the hostage front, the Israeli government met with the War Cabinet on Thursday evening, November 16, to discuss Hamas’ alleged yes to exchanging the release of 50 hostages for a ceasefire of a few days.