Israel Offers To End War: Hamas Leader Sinwar To Be Given Safe Passage If All Hostages Returned
Israel's top official who is overseeing the (so far) failed truce talks with Hamas has said Israel is ready to offer Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar safe passage if all the hostages are returned. Upon that condition, the war in Gaza war can come to an end, the senior official said.
This came direct from Israeli hostage envoy Gal Hirsch during an interview with Bloomberg published Tuesday. "I’m ready to provide safe passage to Sinwar, his family, whoever wants to join him," Hirsch said.
"We want the hostages back. We want demilitarization, de-radicalization of course — a new system that will manage Gaza," the top Israeli negotiator added. In essence he has stipulated that Hamas must agree to exit Gaza, and relinquish power there.
Hirsch described that this unprecedented safe passage offer was put on the table less than 48 hours ago, but did not reveal whether a response was received or the nature of any Hamas reaction to it.
Yet he also admitted in the interview that the prospect of achieving a deal looks more and more unlikely. So the safe passage offer looks like a desperate last-ditch effort to get talks back on track.
Sinwar has long been seen as the mastermind behind the Oct.7 terror attacks on southern Israel. But even if the Hamas chief took up the offer, he would still remain on the run even abroad. This is because, as Bloomberg explains, Israeli intelligence has a proven history of tracking the movements of Hamas officials abroad and assassinating them:
It’s unclear whether Hamas would accept the proposal for Sinwar to leave Gaza, especially given Israel’s history of operations targeting operatives abroad.
Israel hasn’t taken responsibility for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran. But Iran has said the killing — Haniyeh was slain in a bomb blast at a Tehran guest house — was Israel’s handiwork.
Hirsch continued by saying there are still other options even if Hamas doesn't agree to this big offer of safe passage for Sinwar. "In parallel, I must work on plan B, C and D because I must bring the hostages back home," he explained, adding that "The clock is ticking, the hostages do not have time."
Indeed the last six hostages to be recovered from the tunnels had been slain shortly before Israel's military (IDF) could reach them. This has outraged the hostage victims' families, who have also accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of being lukewarm in seeking the return of the captives. They say he's recklessly prioritized the military operation to defeat Hamas so much so that it's put the remaining some 100 hostages in danger.
Recent days have witnessed more record-breaking protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem:
500,000 People Demand Hostage-release deal in massive Tel Aviv protest - https://t.co/ypF43BAXpO
— WorthyNews (@worthynews) September 9, 2024
An estimated half a million people took to the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday night, demanding that the Israeli government agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas that w... pic.twitter.com/j5K8z9MkaR
Hamas has since warned that it will continue executing hostages if the IDF forces its way close to their locations. So the prospect of future daring military rescue raids returning hostages alive is looking more bleak.