Israel believes that 137 hostages remain in Gaza, though many may have been transferred to the custody of other armed groups
A senior Hamas leader claims to not know how many hostages are still held by the group, saying that the tally is “not so important.”
Ghazi Hamad, a top figure in Hamas’ political wing, pleaded ignorance during an interview with CBS News that aired on Thursday, when the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas still stood and more hostages were in the process of being released.
The leverage? The hostage being a bargaining chip? Which is lost when the hostage is dead.
But they need to return them, they can’t just perpetually keep hostages. They exchanged the hostages for Palestinian prisoners, they wouldn’t be able to do that if they didn’t get exchanged.
Eventually the cost of keeping and the benefit gained from returning them might become greater than the benefit gained from their leverage, which is when they’ll be returned. However, that remains to be seen. If, eventually, the hostages’ wellbeing can be used to force the IDF’s hand in Hamas’ favour, I doubt they’ll be returned anytime soon, if at all.
I don’t know man, I don’t think the IDF cares. But they could be compelled by the hostages families again I suppose.