Israel-Hamas war live updates: Pressure grows in Israel for another deal to release remaining hostages
NBCDec 31, 2023
Hamas Leader Arrives in Egypt to Discuss Potential Hostage Deal
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Image copyright: NurPhoto/Corbis News via Getty Images (Aug. 27, 2014)
The Facts
Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Egypt on Wednesday in a rare diplomatic intervention amid intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Yet, Israel and Hamas have publicly stated irreconcilable positions on any halt to fighting.
This visit comes after Israel proposed a weeklong pause in fighting in exchange for the release of 40 hostages, including women, elderly, and those in need of urgent care, but an Israeli official has cautioned that the two sides were not "near a final deal at the moment," as Hamas hopes for a permanent cease-fire.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Though, of course, Israel has a right to dismantle Hamas's military capabilities, it must wage this war in a humane way. The amount of civilians being killed will only galvanize Palestinians against peace and push them into the arms of Hamas. A more thorough and surgical campaign is now needed to eliminate Hamas's leadership in Gaza, as Israel is losing global support.
Pro-Israel narrative
This has indeed been a tragic war but Israel cannot allow Hamas to survive. Though it seems that the Biden admin. wants to pressure Israel into a cease-fire, Israel must push back against such short-sighted thinking. As a sovereign country, Israel has the right to defend itself from terrorism and pursue its own interests. Hamas's military capabilities must be eliminated so that the group can never launch a terrorist attack like Oct. 7 again.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Israel continues to demonstrate that its war is not against Hamas but against the Palestinian people as a whole. Nowhere in Gaza is safe, and Israel has effectively rendered the north of the strip unlivable. Israel is killing Palestinians at an unprecedented rate and clearly wants to depopulate the Gaza Strip. Though the US, Israel's biggest ally, wants to minimize the war's intensity, it must instead exert more pressure to end the war completely.
