Hamas official Basem Naim said on Monday to the Anglo-France-Presse (AFP) that the terror group did not know which of the hostages were dead or alive.
Basem also added that the hostages were held by many terror groups in different locations in the Gaza Strip.
According to Basem, a ceasefire is necessary for Hamas to ascertain how many and which hostages it is still holding.
The same Hamas official, in an interview with the BBC, said that the hostages “are in different areas with different groups” and Hamas “have asked for a ceasefire to collect that data [on which hostages are alive and where.]”
Continuing the BBC interview, Naim asserted that information relating to the hostages was “valuable” and could not be given “for free.”
An image taken from a Hamas video claiming the death of seven hostages. March 1, 2024. (credit: Screenshot/Hamas Telegram)
Gershon Peri, 79, Yoram Itak Metzger, 80, and Amiram Israel Cooper, 85, were announced as dead on Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, Hamas released a video where they proposed three scenarios regarding the fates of the hostages. In the first, all had been killed, in the second some had been killed and others wounded, and in the third, all were still alive.
The information provided by Hamas is unconfirmed, and Hamas has previously shared false information on the well-being of hostages as part of its use of psychological warfare. Hamas has previously named a hostage as killed only to release them later, as was the case of Hannah Katzir.
Since 2017, a team of archaeologists from the IAA’s Prevention of Archaeological Theft unit has been systematically surveying the Judean Desert to reach valuable finds before the antiquity looters.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHThe rare coin. A date palm is engraved, with the inscription “Eleazar the Priest” inscribed in ancient Hebrew script.(photo credit: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)
The inscription “Year One of the Redemption of Israel” appears on a rare coin from the time of the Bar Kochba Revolt, bearing the name of “Eleazar the Priest” and dated to the first year of the revolt (132 CE), has been found in the course of the Judean Desert Cave Survey carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
The dig at the Mazuq Ha-he’teqim Nature Reserve, whose aim is to retrieve the ancient treasures before they are stolen by antiquity looters, is being carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and the Archaeological Office for the Military Administration of Judea and Samaria. Three additional Revolt coins bearing the name “Simeon” were also found with the rare coin.
Members of the public are invited to the excavation
Interested public members are invited to participate in the excavation season in the desert, which will begin on March 11 and last for ten days. The volunteers will stay in a camp set up in the desert by the IAA and will be able to hear and participate in other activities. Registration and details are on the Hebrew-language site of the IAA at https://www.iaa.org.il/.
There are a few theories about the identity of Eleazar the Priest, whose name appears on the coin. One is Rabbi Eleazar Hamod‘ai, a Tannaic rabbi from the time of Rabbi Akiva, a pupil of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai. It seems that Rabbi Eleazar Hamod‘ai played a significant religious role at the time of the Bar Kochba Revolt, and he was living in the town of Beitar – the location of the revolt headquarters. The Talmud accounts that he died in Beitar, probably during the Revolt. (Jerusalem Talmud: Ta‘anit 4:5).
On the obverse face of the coin, a date palm is engraved with “Eleazar the Priest” inscribed in ancient Hebrew script. On the reverse, a bunch of grapes is surrounded by the text “Year One of the Redemption of Israel,” again in ancient Hebrew script.
Excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Judean Desert. The public is invited. (credit: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Since 2017, a team of archaeologists from the IAA’s Prevention of Archaeological Theft unit has been systematically surveying the Judean Desert to reach the valuable finds before the antiquity looters. Among the finds discovered in the desert in the course of the survey were scroll fragments of the Twelve Minor Prophets, Roman iron swords – one still in its sheath – and the earliest complete basket in the world, and more.
“We invite the public to join us in the seventh excavation season in the desert to help save the Judean Desert archaeological finds, endangered by antiquities theft,” said IAA director Eli Escuzido.
“They are invited for a taste of Zionism and a touch of ‘escapism,’ volunteering on a dig, together with the IAA archaeological team in the Murabba‘at Caves along Nahal Darga. The Judean Desert excavations do not cease to amaze us, and we hope that in this season, we will also be able to report important finds.”
Israel announced Sunday night that is not sending a delegation to Cairo to resume the hostage negotiations because Hamas is refusing to hand over the list of living hostages as had been agreed.
Israel also stressed that as long as there is no deal, the IDF will continue the military operation in Gaza with all its might, even on Ramadan, with plans for a ground maneuver in Rafah and the camps in the center of the Gaza Strip, where the main Hamas force remains.
The above two points: 1. No list of hostages, no hostage negotiations, and 2. No negotiations, the war continues, make perfect sense, and Israel should expect it’s the great white father in Washington to support its position, but nothing is further from the truth.
First, the Americans are signaling that above everything else, they are committed to the two-state solution. Not the security of Israel, not its right to exist unencumbered by terrorist states on its borders – only a Palestinian State will do.
GANTZ AND THE TWO-STATE SECRET
To that end, President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Vice President Kamala Harris invited the Trojan horse of the two-state legions in Netanyahu’s cabinet, Minister Benny Gantz, for discussions. Gantz went to meet the Roman Emperor’s lieutenants against Netanyahu’s wishes, as part of the emperor’s meddling in the affairs of the province of Judea.
See how nothing has changed in world politics in two millennia?
Nothing concrete will come out of these discussions any time soon and don’t expect Gantz, who currently leads the biggest imaginary party in the polls, to say anything positive about establishing a Palestinian State when the elections come around – because everybody knows this would cut him down to his real political strength of 12 Knesset seats. Gantz will do the deed after he is crowned as prime minister, much the way the late Yitzhak Rabin did, after running on an anti-Palestinian State platform.
KAMALA SAVES HAMAS
Meanwhile, the administration is invested in rescuing Hamas from total annihilation, because without Hamas, the PLO in Ramallah will not be able to establish a state.
To that end, on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris launched a campaign to defeat the Israeli war effort, calling for an “immediate cease-fire” in Gaza. Because, you know, think of the children. “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating,” Harris said. “We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed. Women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care. And children dying from malnutrition and dehydration. As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
The search for “innocent Palestinians” continues, but Harris is convinced they exist. It’s nice that the VP can still see the best in people, even in monsters who follow the bands of murderers into Israeli kibbutzim, humiliate kidnapped Jewish women in the streets of Gaza and desecrate their raped bodies, and turn in hostages who manage to escape their tormentors.
But wait, there’s more: Harris changed the definition of what should be the outcome of the war. Her concession part about what Israel is entitled to, went: “The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated.”
Did you see that? Not Hamas needs to be eliminated, only “the threat.” We don’t hate evil people, we only hate evil.
She then glides directly into, “And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire, for at least the next six weeks.”
Folks, be afraid, be very afraid, because should Joe Biden win and then go to meet his maker, Kamala Harris will be making decisions in the Oval Office.
“Hamas claims it wants a cease-fire,” Harris said. “Well, there is a deal on the table.”
GET JOE A DEAL
But there isn’t. As The Telegraph reported on Sunday, citing US officials, that Joe Biden told negotiators holding talks on a Gaza ceasefire to “get me a deal.” The President said this to the emir of Qatar and the president of Egypt, who so far have not been able to get Hamas to even list the names of Israeli hostages who are still alive.
The Telegraph, like most media outlets, recited the same paragraph that Harris had done, and the words sound confident and reassuring, but there is no reality to them, which is why Israel won’t budge:
“A potential deal could include a six-week pause in fighting, the release of approximately 400 Palestinian prisoners in return for the freeing of 40 Israeli hostages, as well as preparation for a gradual return of Palestinian citizens to the northern part of the Gaza Strip.”
Back to international intrigue: Netanyahu spoke with Gantz and told him that he forbids him to fly to the United States and that he would not approve his flight as is customary according to protocol. Netanyahu also refused to cooperate by issuing a message ahead of the meetings Gantz will hold in Washington.
But Gantz’s circle clarified that the flight was approved by the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office, who handled the booking of his tickets, and only later did Netanyahu inform his minister that his flight was not approved.
It’s all theater, and the only reality is more killed Hamasniks. We have until Sunday before the month of peace is upon us. Do more killing.
