Roving Periscope: Bibi offers $5m for the release of each Israeli hostage from Gaza
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Two months ahead of Donald Trump retaking the White House and potentially changing the contours of the ongoing war in the Middle East (and Ukraine), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced a USD 5 million reward for the release of each of the remaining Israeli hostages, still held captive by Hamas, and safe passage to those helping in this mission in the war-torn territory.
And, he declared, Hamas will never be allowed to return to and govern the Gaza Strip.
He made this announcement during a brief visit to Gaza on Tuesday where he was shown the Israeli military’s Netzarim Corridor – a key access road and buffer zone constructed by Israel’s army to dissect northern Gaza from the southern part, the media reported.
“To those who want to leave this entanglement, I say: Whoever brings us a hostage, will find a safe way out for himself and his family. We will also give USD 5 million for every hostage,” he said.
“The choice is yours but the result will be the same: We will bring them all back,” Netanyahu said.
Israel estimates that 101 hostages, of the 250-odd taken by Hamas when they invaded Southern Israel on October 7, 2023, remain in the terror outfit’s captivity. Some reports suggested that one-third of that number are now believed to have died.
Netanyahu’s cash reward offer comes as mass protests continue in Israel by families of captives and their supporters who are demanding that their PM reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas that would see their loved ones freed.
PM Netanyahu has repeatedly said that a military option is the only way to free all the captives and the war will continue in Gaza until that objective has been achieved.
Families of the captives have accused the Netanyahu government of not doing enough to reach a ceasefire deal. At the same time, a former aide to Netanyahu was arrested on suspicion of leaking classified materials to foreign media in an apparent bid to scuttle an earlier truce deal with Hamas, the reports said.
His opponents believe that Netanyahu has continually torpedoed a possible end to fighting in Gaza as it would likely lead to the collapse of his far-right and ultranationalist government as well as the launch of an official investigation into the security failures by his government in the run-up to the Hamas attack. Netanyahu is also under investigation for alleged corruption.
Hamas has long accused Israeli ceasefire negotiators of not being serious about reaching an agreement to end the fighting in Gaza.
Describing the Israeli military as “doing a wonderful job” in Gaza, Netanyahu said that under no circumstances would Hamas return to govern the Palestinian territory.
“Here, in the central Gaza Strip and throughout the Gaza Strip, they (the Israeli armed forces) have achieved excellent results,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement released by his office.
“And the best is yet to come. Hamas will no longer exist in Gaza,” he said.
Last week, a UN special committee investigating Israel’s war on Gaza said Tel Aviv’s policies displayed the characteristics of genocide and accused the Jewish country of “using starvation as a method of war” against Palestinian civilians in the territory.
Israel had inflicted “mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions” for Palestinians, the committee said.
“Since the beginning of the war, Israeli officials have publicly supported policies that strip Palestinians of the very necessities required to sustain life – food, water, and fuel.”
Israel’s war on the territory, which began after Hamas killed nearly 1,300 Israelis, has massacred almost 44,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 104,000 others.
On Monday, leaders of the Group of 20 major economies meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, also called for “comprehensive” ceasefires in Gaza.
In a statement, they expressed “deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Gaza as well as concern over the “escalation in Lebanon”, calling for a ceasefire enabling “citizens to return safely to their homes” in both southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
