Israel’s intelligence community believes a significant number of hostages are being held in the Gazan city of Rafah.
In interview with CNN on Saturday, Israel’s hostage coordinator Gal Hirsch said there is nothing more important for the IDF than bringing hostages believed to be in Rafah back home and that the IDF is willing to pay a big price for it.
Israel has set a deadline of March 10th for the release of the hostages, warning that failure to meet this deadline will prompt a military offensive into the Hamas-controlled city.
While Israel is open to negotiating a hostage exchange, Hirsch clarified that the terms must be advantageous. He critiqued Hamas’s latest proposal, which outlined a drawn-out, three-stage process over four-and-a-half months that would require a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the release of hostages, and the freeing of an unacceptable amount Arab prisoners.
Besides the danger of being held by terrorists, the hostages are facing critical health risks due to the extremely poor hygiene and unhygienic living conditions they are subjected to. Dr. Hagai Levin, as reported by Maariv, has raised concerns about the high incidence of infectious diseases in the region, including pneumonia, Hepatitis A, influenza, and coronavirus, all of which are compounded by the dire circumstances of captivity.
Israeli intelligence estimates there are 136 hostages currently held captive in Gaza, but only some 100 of them are believed to still be alive.
