Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader, as per reports may have given his men the order to kill all Oct 7 Israeli hostages in the event of his death, warned Israel’s leading hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin.
In a conversation with The Telegraph, Baskin — who in 2011 saw the release of Sinwar along with 1,026 other Palestinian prisoners in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shilat — warned “It is a moment of either opportunity or a moment of doom”.
‘Opportunity or doom’
The hostage negotiator explained that Sinwar’s death could be a “moment of doom,” because there were “rumours that Sinwar instructed people holding hostages that, should he be killed, they should kill their hostages.”
Baskin said that while it was not possible to confirm or deny the rumour, it should be taken “seriously” given that the group had no qualms about executing six hostages. In late August, the six hostages were killed execution-style after the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) closed in on the tunnel where they were being held.
“We saw the six hostages killed when Israel was entering the tunnel. That could be the case now. We just don’t know,” he stated.
Sinwar was killed on Oct 16 (last week) and at the time of his elimination, Hamas still had 101 Israeli hostages in captivity. Of these, at least 60 are believed to still be alive.
After Sinwar’s killing, the Hamas fighters, as per the report, are being led by his brother Muhammad, which further complicates the matter.
According to the hostage negotiator, this could also be a “moment of opportunity” for Israel.
The nation in the absence of Sinwar’s leadership “should be issuing a very clear call that anyone who’s holding a hostage that releases them will be given free passage for themselves and their family out of Gaza to another country, as well as a lot of money.”
“In order to encourage them to do that, Israel should also be reaching out to Egypt and Qatar and tell them to renew the negotiations quickly, not on the deal that’s been negotiated without success for almost four months, but on a deal that would bring the hostages home quicker and would obviously require Israel to end the war.”
However, he added that this “unfortunately,” won’t happen “unless president [Joe] Biden weighs in very heavily and makes sure that Netanyahu agrees to end the war, because, without that, Netanyahu won’t end the war.”
Baskin expressed his confidence that the US had the necessary “leverage” to force a ceasefire but added sceptically, “the question is if they’re willing to use it”.
(With inputs from agencies)