According to a report in the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat, terror factions inside Gaza are weighing the possibility of relocating hostages into Gaza City in order to connect their fate with Israel’s expected military campaign there. Israeli officials, however, believe the publication is more likely a tactic aimed at stirring resistance to the IDF’s next move.
The article, released on Sunday, claimed that militants are holding internal discussions about transferring captives to Gaza City so their well-being would be directly tied to Israel’s anticipated push to seize control of the territory’s largest urban center.
Representatives from within the groups told the paper that although the idea carries great risk, it is nonetheless under review by senior leaders both within Gaza and abroad. “The goal is to increase pressure on Israel and link the fate of the living hostages to Netanyahu’s decisions,” the report noted.
Up until now, the dominant approach has been to safeguard the hostages’ survival so they could be leveraged for prisoner exchanges or to obtain a ceasefire agreement.
But the shifting battlefield reality has prompted consideration of a new course, one in which the captives’ survival would be directly tied to the plight of Gaza’s civilian population.
Insiders further told the newspaper that such a move had not been proposed in other regions under Israeli assault, asserting that “the current plan for Gaza City is the most dangerous of all.”
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities view the coverage as part of a psychological campaign by Hamas, designed to inflame public opinion inside Israel against any ground maneuver in Gaza and to place added political strain on the government.
{Matzav.com}
