Israel: Blockade Will Not Be Lifted Until All Hostages Are Freed

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Image copyright: US Embassy in Israel [via Wikimedia Commons]

The Facts

  • After Israel announced a "complete siege" on Gaza in response to the attack launched by Hamas over the weekend, Israel's energy minister said on Thursday that the blockade would not be lifted until all Israeli hostages are freed.

  • Some 150 people are believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza. A number of officials — including Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and members of the International Committee of the Red Cross — are reportedly in negotiations with the group in an attempt to secure the hostages' release.

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The Spin

Pro-Israel narrative

Following the scale of atrocities carried out by Hamas in Israel, Tel Aviv has every right to defend itself from terrorists, including taking proactive actions in Gaza to ensure these kinds of catastrophic attacks never happen again. Israel will not rest until the Hamas threat is eliminated.

The Times of Israel

Pro-Palestine narrative

The actions carried out by Israel are not singling out Hamas alone, but are exacting a collective punishment on Palestinians as a whole. An already-impoverished population of 2.3M people is now facing a humanitarian catastrophe of an epic scale.

Associated Press

Metaculus Prediction

Establishment split

CRITICAL

PRO

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