I’m not sure what releasing one percent of the hostages
It’s been nearly two weeks since the terrorist group Hamas took at least 200 hostages in Israel and spirited them back to Gaza. The hostages include women and children, old and young. We know that Hamas didn’t take hostages as an afterthought. A document found by the Israeli military goes into excruciating detail about how to first “cleanse the battlefield, then how to abduct them, and how to treat them.” (The manual includes language like, “Kill the difficult ones.”)
The hostage-taking, according to the manual, is meant to happen “in the field,” in areas that have been “cleansed” and brought under control. After the hostages are brought together, it says, they should be culled (“kill those expected to resist and those that pose a threat”); the others should be bound and blindfolded, then “reassured,” to keep them docile. “Use them as human shields,” it says, and use “electric shocks” to force compliance.
Sadly, with the hostages in Gaza, there’s a chance that some of them have already perished in the unrelenting Israeli bombardment. Otherwise, it’s likely they’re being held in widely scattered locations with no more than a handful being held in one spot.
The Israelis are taking a hard line toward aid to Gaza as long as the hostages are being held.
