Hamas Wants Israel to Free 16,220 ‘Palestinian’ Prisoners For 64 Hostages

Hamas’ fourth demand is that Israel exchange 50 terrorists for every female IDF soldier and 30 for every civilian in the first stage, then 500 terrorists for every male soldier in the second.

Of the 64 hostages still believed to be alive (about 40 are believed to have been killed), about 30 are thought to be male soldiers, 10 are believed to be female soldiers, and 24 thought to be civilians. If Israel were to accept Hamas’ terms, it would mean freeing a total of 15,000 + 500 + 720, or 16,220 prisoners, thousands of them terrorists, and thousands of others deemed “security risks.” It’s an impossible number for Israel to agree to; it learned from the swap of 1,027 prisoners for Gilad Shalit that many of those freed prisoners went right back to committing acts of terrorism. Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari has been quoted in the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat as confirming that the prisoners released under the Shalit deal were collectively responsible for the killing of 569 Israelis. After what the Shalit trade led to, no Israeli government can possibly agree to setting free 16,220 prisoners, most of them terrorists and “security risks,” or even one-tenth that number.

The international media has still not published these Hamas demands. For if they did so, it would instantly become clear that not Prime Minister Netanyahu but Hamas is the one holding up a deal. And much of the world wants to be able to blame the “obstinate” Netanyahu who, we are constantly told, “is not interested in a deal.” More Hamas’ latest terms, of which few of us were aware, can be found here: “Sinwar’s useful idiots,” by Gadi Taub, JNS, September 8, 2024:

…One Telegram channel owner got tired of the media’s game. That person is, most probably, a former intelligence officer. He calls his channel, tongue in cheek, Abu Ali Express. But he is a serious professional and a reliable source of news from the Arab world, one many in Israel rely on. Over 400,000 Hebrew speakers subscribe to this channel. Abu Ali decided to run an opinion poll of his own. He first presented the Hamas terms for a deal, then asked his followers if they would have accepted it. 51,000 users responded in the space of two hours. Eighty-one percent said they would not accept such a deal, 10% said they would, 9% said they don’t know.Granted, this is not a representative sample, nor a proper survey. Still, it is indicative of something. And it gives you an idea about how the mainstream media is misleading you.

It’s not just Netanyahu who won’t accept the terms Hamas has proposed. It’s 81%, or four-fifths, of the Israelis who would not agree to such a deal. But you won’t hear about that in the mainstream media.

This public mood was also demonstrated by the collapse of last week’s (illegal) attempt at a general strike. The Histadrut (the umbrella organization of Israeli labor unions) declared it—under pressure from demonstration organizers insisting they are the sole legitimate representatives of the families of hostages—only to fold it all at 2 p.m. the next day following a labor court ruling. The Never-Bibi activists found they don’t really have enough troops….

It now seems that the protesters’ attempt to harness the tragedy of the six hostages for their permanent political project may have just backfired. More people now see them more clearly as Sinwar’s useful idiots….

The general strike fizzled quickly. It turns out that the anti-Netanyahu protesters are far fewer than they, or we, have been led to believe. Many more Israelis now understand what Yahya Sinwar has been trying to do: to harness their grief and rage over the continued plight of the hostages so that they will pressure Netanyahu to agree to Hamas’ outrageous demands. It’s not going to happen.

Four-fifths of Israelis agree with Netanyahu in rejecting the latest demands of Hamas, that if they were agreed to would leave the terror group standing, still able to regroup, and celebrated by Arabs everywhere for their supposed “victory over the Zionist entity,” with thousands of just-freed terrorists ready to be recruited. Netanyahu will not agree to those terms, not now, and not ever, even if Kamala Harris becomes president and turns the screws on America’s most loyal ally, still fighting, as it must, what has now become a seven-front war against those who would destroy it.

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