Diplomats Come Together To Pressure Hamas for Hostage Release
A new coalition is being formed between envoys in Israel and in 26 other countries whose citizens are also hostage in the Gaza Strip, and the diplomats say that the International Red Cross in particular is not doing enough
A group of former Israeli ambassadors and diplomats working with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel has announced the formation of an international coalition with at least 26 other countries whose citizens are also being held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
The coalition will coordinate to pressure governments, the United Nations, humanitarian organizations, and Hamas to release the almost 240 hostages abducted from southern Israel on Oct. 7. Many of the hostages are dual Israeli-foreign citizens, including American, French, German, Russian, and British nationals, while a significant number are foreign nationals, including Thai, Nepali, and Filipino agricultural and care workers.
The diplomatic team at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which is made up entirely of volunteers, said the International Committee of the Red Cross in particular is not doing enough to live up to its mission, despite being in direct contact with Hamas both in Qatar and in Gaza. The ICRC is supposed to demand signs of life, verify health conditions, and provide medical care where needed.
The hostages in Hamas’s hands must be brought to attention all the time. Every day that passes is a greater danger to those who need medicine and basic care.
“We don’t know anything about what’s happening [to the hostages], and the feeling of not knowing is making the families crazy,” Israeli attorney Irit Kohn told The Media Line. Kohn is the president of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, a former director of the Israeli Justice Ministry’s International Affairs Department, and one of the leaders of the forum’s diplomatic team.
“Each of us can imagine what would happen if it were one of our family or friends,” Kohn said. “The hostages in Hamas’s hands must be brought to attention all the time. Every day that passes is a greater danger to those who need medicine and basic care.”
Israel and Hamas are reportedly close to an agreement to release at least 50 hostages—women and children—in return for a four-day cease-fire and the release of some 150 Palestinian security prisoners, made up of women and minors without murder convictions.
“Of course, we’re very happy they’re releasing hostages,” Kohn said. “But until I see them here [in Israel], I have my doubts. Hamas has proved in the past that they do not stand by or act on their word.”
Some of the hostages are elderly and more than 30 of them are children, including one only 10 months old. In addition, one hostage who was heavily pregnant has reportedly given birth in captivity. Nothing is known of her or her newborn’s conditions.
“I’ve never heard of [anything like] this,” Kohn said. “All the time I’ve worked in international law … such a thing, with civilians, and elderly, and children. … I’ve never heard of it. Every day it goes on is a war crime.”
The ICRC has said that it has been calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages, as well as access to them, from the beginning.
“We stand ready to facilitate their release, as we have done for four hostages so far,” the ICRC said in a statement released Nov. 20. But “for that, parties need to agree among themselves. … It is the responsibility of the parties to give us the green light and the access we are constantly asking for.”
Kohn expressed skepticism over the ICRC’s statement.
“The Red Cross says they’re in contact with Hamas leadership in Qatar, and they claim that during the cease-fire they’ll have access to the Hamas hostages in order to check on them and bring them medicine. If that happens, then that’s a good positive move. But we have to wait and see. Until now, it’s only rumor and we haven’t seen anything that’s definite,” she said.
Beyond pressuring Hamas and the ICRC, the forum and its diplomatic team have been working to connect the captives’ families to Jewish “host families” abroad, who can provide emotional and material support and help raise awareness in local parliaments, synagogue congregations, and other organizations.
“I had the idea to bring up the people who were abducted and get to know them intimately, not just as a number or name,” Kohn said.
Such host families are volunteering in increasing numbers around the world, especially in Europe and the United States.
The diplomatic team has also focused on spreading the families’ voices to as many foreign ambassadors and heads of state as possible.
“Since the second day [of the war] we’ve been at the [forum’s] headquarters,” diplomatic team volunteer Nadav Tamir told The Media Line. Tamir is executive director of J Street Israel, a former diplomatic adviser to then-President Shimon Peres, and a former Israeli consul general to New England, based in Boston.
“We brought over 40 ambassadors to meet with the families and to hear their stories and see what their governments could do,” Tamir said. “We felt that things are not coordinated between them, and that they’d have more power if there would be synergy.”
Tamir said the team had also organized Zoom calls with foreign leaders and brought hostages’ families to meet with foreign leaders visiting Israel, and was engaged with messaging and foreign media abroad.
He said the team was doing “whatever we can do for the families” to raise awareness and keep the hostages at the top of the agenda.
Kohn said that different views of the conflict were irrelevant to the hostage issue.
“Sometimes when you go to [meetings with] the government, it’s different. But when you come to us, it’s entirely non-political. We only focus on the [hostage] problem,” she said.
In the beginning, most Israelis preferred revenge. But now the sentiment is that victory is firstly bringing the hostages back home.
Tamir said the forum’s greatest achievement was shifting Israeli public opinion to put the return of the hostages at the top of the priority list.
“In the beginning, most Israelis preferred revenge,” he said. “But now the sentiment is that victory is firstly bringing the hostages back home. This is more accepted.”
Asked about the price for releasing the hostages—over 1,000 security prisoners were released in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011—Tamir said that no price is too high.
He said people were fearful of such a trade because Yahya Sinwar, who went on to become the Hamas leader in Gaza, was released in the Shalit deal.
“[But] whenever there is war, a new generation of Sinwars [can arise]. The main thing for us is protecting people who are alive. It’s much more important than killing people,” he said.
Asked whether the forum would prefer a deal that includes all the hostages rather than some, Tamir said, “Of course we want all of them. But we’ll be happy even if it happens in stages, as long as everyone comes home eventually.”
He added that Israel still needs to make plans for after the war.
“I didn’t hear any plan from the government for the day after, which is necessary. I didn’t hear [about] any political horizon that could help create the [international] coalition that is necessary,” he said. “Even countries like Egypt and Jordan, which hate Hamas and want Hamas destroyed, want to make sure this is not just a military thing and that there’s a political horizon at the end.”
He also said Israel must heed the Biden Administration’s warnings to adhere to international law, separate between Hamas and innocent civilians in Gaza, provide humanitarian aid, develop an exit strategy, and prevent provocations in the West Bank.
“[We must] help the West to help us,” he said. “[US President Joe Biden] says this because he’s a friend to Israel and he understands that we have full rights to defend ourselves and hurt Hamas as much as possible. But he also understands the right way to do it. I hope Israelis will be more in a listening mood than in the revenge mood we were in in the first days.”
