Behind the scenes: Hamas said in a statement it had proposed releasing the Israeli women over the weekend but that Israel refused.
Israeli officials confirmed that — and said Hamas initially demanded that in return, Israel stop its airstrikes on Gaza for six hours.
The Israeli officials said they refused because they didn’t want to create a precedent in which Hamas would release two hostages every time it wanted a ceasefire.
The Israelis’ concern was that every such ceasefire can allow Hamas to regroup, and give the group’s leaders a chance to move from one hiding place to another without being targeted.
This was a couple days ago, and things move quickly. Since then, Israel has claimed to have killed Hamas’ leader in an airstrike. The ground invasion may have already started as far as I know.
Wait, what? I haven’t been following these last few days. Can you share a link?
https://www.axios.com/2023/10/24/israel-hostages-delay-invasion-gaza-hamas
This was a couple days ago, and things move quickly. Since then, Israel has claimed to have killed Hamas’ leader in an airstrike. The ground invasion may have already started as far as I know.