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Hamas hands over bodies: No hostages – Israel in turmoil!
The Israeli army confirms that bodies handed over by Hamas are not hostages. The Gaza conflict remains tense.
Hamas hands over bodies: No hostages – Israel in turmoil!
The situation in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly dramatic. On Friday evening, the Israeli army announced that the remains of three people handed over by Hamas were not among the missing hostages. These remains had been handed over by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and had been forwarded to the Israeli authorities. For Israel, this represents another chapter in a conflict marked by mistrust with Hamas, which has previously handed over false hostage bodies, sparking outrage in Israel. So far, the bodies of a total of eleven missing hostages in the Gaza Strip have not yet been found in this context.
On Thursday, however, Hamas handed over two more bodies that actually belonged to two Israelis, Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch. In recent weeks, Hamas has been slow to hand over the bodies, citing difficulties in finding the dead among the rubble of the Gaza Strip. Israel, for its part, calls Hamas' statements lies and is skeptical about the militant group's actual intentions.
A brief look back at the escalation
The Gaza war, which is currently destabilizing the region, was triggered by a massacre by Hamas on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people lost their lives and over 250 people were abducted to Gaza. A brutal conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has a disastrous history with repeated military conflicts between 2008 and 2021, has once again increased in intensity since this terrible event. More than 68,500 people are believed to have died in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority.
A strong call for a ceasefire came on October 10, when a fragile ceasefire came into effect under a peace plan put forward by US President Trump. On October 13, Hamas announced the release of all living hostages, in what was seen as a desperate attempt to sway public opinion at home and abroad.
Who is Hamas?
Hamas, founded in 1987 by Ahmed Yassin, is a Sunni Islamist Palestinian nationalist organization that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. It was initially supported as a counterpoint to the increasingly secular Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and gained political momentum through its successes in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections. The charter published in 2017, which supports Palestinian statehood within the 1967 borders, was seen by many as an indication of a possible willingness to recognize Israel.
However, Hamas is still classified as a terrorist organization, not only by Israel, but also by countries such as the USA, Canada and the EU. Despite the recurring violence, the group has established significant social services in Gaza, giving it a complex role between resistance and governance.
In the current situation, preliminary talks and possible peace negotiations are crucial in order to break the spiral of violence and find a long-term solution to the conflict. The coming months will show whether a pragmatic approach is possible from both sides.