The shadow of the “disastrous” deal that freed the soldier Gilad Shalit after he was held for five years by Hamas looms over Israeli officials, a member of the task force trying to release 239 hostages has admitted.
As families demand a deal from Binyamin Netanyahu to free the captives at any price, the negotiator told The Times that officials are fearful of making the same mistake that they did in the Shalit case — that in the rush to free Israelis they release militants who threaten the country’s security.
Netanyahu met the families on Saturday amid criticism of his government’s failure to protect citizens. The prime minister has promised to do everything possible to bring home the hostages.
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Shalit was seized by Hamas in 2006 and freed in 2011 in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. One of those released was Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, who is seen as a mastermind of the attacks on October 7, which killed more than 1,400 people.
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The task force member, who asked to remain anonymous, said that because the Shalit deal proved so disastrous for Israel’s security and has been perceived as such, the demands of Hamas will be impossible to justify. “The Shalit deal exposed a vulnerability in Israel’s security posture, where it released 1,000 terrorists in exchange for one Israeli soldier. This experience highlighted a perceived lack of proportionality in such exchanges,” he said.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, was released in a prisoner exchange deal in 1985 and memories of the terror he would lead the group towards run deep.
“Many prisoners held by Israel are linked to acts of violence and terrorism. Releasing them could potentially put Israel at risk as they may be involved in [more] attacks,” the source said.
Two elderly Israeli women and an American-Israeli mother and daughter have been released so far. Of those that are held, at least 135 are foreign or dual nationals, including 54 Thais. Two Britons are thought to be being held.
Hamas has demanded the release of 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages, and claims that “almost 50” have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. The militants are unlikely to agree to a simple exchange, according to the hostage team member who has worked at a senior level of Israel’s security infrastructure for 30 years.
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The demands expected are likely to include a ceasefire with international guarantees to ensure Hamas’s survival after the exchange, something that most Israelis accept cannot continue. “Israel cannot afford to have Hamas on its border again,” he said.
The release of such a large number of prisoners would also send a message to Iran, which funds and supplies Hamas, that capturing hostages is an effective strategy to pressure Israel.
“The Shalit deal did not soften Hamas’s stance or lead to a change in its charter to destroy Israel. Instead, it may have emboldened Hamas and other groups in the region,” he said.
Sinwar has said the terrorist group is “ready to conduct an immediate prisoner swap deal”. He issued a second statement calling on “the institutions and NGOs that focus on the Palestinian prisoners’ issue to prepare lists for the male and female prisoners ... to stay ready for any development.”
Lior Peri, whose 79-year-old father Chaim is one of the hostages, said: “My government cannot do anything else besides bringing back the hostages.”
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Desperate to reunite with his father, who was a volunteer to take sick Palestinian children from Gaza for treatment in Israeli hospitals, he said: “I really don’t care about prices and commodities. We already paid the biggest price, and now it’s up to the government to clean up the mess they’ve made.”
Daniel Hagari, the Israel Defence Forces spokesman, said the hostages continued to be at the top of the government’s operational agenda.
Addressing the families of the hostages, he said: “No one can imagine the magnitude of the pain and anguish that accompanies you every second. IDF soldiers will do everything to bring back your loved ones.”
