Hostage-taking as a weapon: the calculation behind Hamas’s kidnappings Syria accused of torture in UN court

A young woman’s hands are tied behind her back with cable ties. Blood flows from a cut on the head. The clothes are covered in blood stains. A man pulls her hair to get her into a car. In the background you hear men shouting “Allahu Akbar” and “Allah is great”.

Hamas makes no secret of its crimes and distributes images of the kidnappings of Israeli citizens on social networks for propaganda purposes. The short videos spread like wildfire.

According to official information, at least 150 hostages have been abducted to Gaza by the terrorist organization, including children and the elderly, and even Holocaust survivors. The message she probably wants to convey is that no one is safe.

The message it officially conveys: the abductees are housed in “a safe place” – spread across the Gaza Strip.

The calculation behind the kidnappings:

Human shields

Hamas said it hid the hostages throughout the Palestinian enclave to deter Israel from a major counterattack. “Every time Israel attacks civilians in their homes in Gaza without prior warning, a captured Israeli civilian is killed,” warned Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, an affiliate of Hamas. The terrorist organization uses the hostages as human shields.

Nevertheless, after the major attack, Israel announced massive retaliation and launched the military operation ‘Iron Sword’. 300,000 reservists have been mobilized for this purpose. More than 500 Hamas targets have already been shelled. The supply of energy and food is blocked.

The US expects ground troops to be sent to Gaza soon. “We will change the reality on the ground in Gaza over the next fifty years,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said. The goal is to free the hostages and destroy Hamas.

Deploying ground troops will likely be difficult in densely populated Gaza. “The terrorist organization is anchored in civil society in the Gaza Strip,” terrorism researcher Peter Neumann told ORF. The hostage situation further complicates the offensive. However, Yaakov Amidror, Benjamin Netanyahu’s former security adviser, believes the kidnappings will not stop the government from bombing Gaza until Hamas is destroyed.

negotiations

Hamas deputy head Saleh al-Arouri has already indicated that the hostages were kidnapped for mediation purposes. Hamas has not yet made any demands. According to experts, the signals currently do not point to a negotiation process. These processes would take several years. Neither Israel nor Hamas have the patience for this, Peter Neumann tells SRF.

However, it would be an advantage that Hamas is strongly organized hierarchically, negotiation expert Matthias Schranner told ZDF. Israel knows who to contact.

Prisoner exchange

Hamas hopes the hostages will result in a prisoner exchange. According to reports, Hamas has already asked for it – and ruled it out again for now: “The military operation is ongoing, so there is no chance of negotiations on the issue of the prisoners or anything else at the moment,” a Hamas representative said. . According to the human rights organization Betselem, there are 4,500 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including 183 from the Gaza Strip.

In the past, Israel has shown willingness to negotiate on the prisoner exchange issue. The most famous prisoner in the Middle East is the Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. In 2006, the then twenty-year-old was kidnapped by Hamas to Gaza. Five years later he was released as part of a prisoner exchange. The price for the release was high: Israel released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in return. The first releases were in exchange for a sign of life.