Prisoner exchange: Hamas puts pressure on Israel – Politics

A young man is seen lying on a shabby bed. The head is resting on a floral pillow, the body is wrapped in a wool blanket, and an oxygen mask is stretched over the mouth and nose. So Hisham al-Sajed lies somewhere in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli hostage in the hands of Hamas. The hostage-takers have now released these video recordings, together with a brief statement that includes a threat: Al-Sajed is seriously ill – if he is to survive, Israel must act quickly.

This video is 39 seconds long, but behind it there is a long-standing drama that is a personal tale of woe and a political psychological thriller at the same time. Hisham al-Sajed has been held by Hamas since he voluntarily climbed over the fence into the Palestinian coastal enclave sealed off from Israel in 2015. The year before, another Israeli had taken the same route to Gaza and been taken prisoner: Avera Mengistu, a native of Ashkelon. Both are said to have mental health problems, but Hamas considers these hostages to be worth more than gold. They are only to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Hardly anything was heard in Israel about the fate of these hostages

For Israel, a traumatic story is being repeated – that of the young soldier Gilad Shalit, who was taken hostage during a Palestinian raid in the border region in 2006. He was only released five and a half years later in the course of a prisoner exchange. However, there is one difference from back then: Schalit’s fate had upset the whole country over the years. He was the prodigal son of an entire nation whose ordeal was kept in the public consciousness with protest marches and protest tents. In contrast, hardly anything has been heard from Al-Sajed and Mengistu in recent years.

One reason for this is certainly that the two were not taken hostage like Schalit while serving the fatherland, but had apparently put themselves in danger as a result of their illness. But her case is far less suitable for collective identification for another reason: Al-Sajed is an Arab Bedouin from the Negev desert; Mengistu’s family immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia. Both come from social fringe groups.

All that matters to Hamas is that the two have an Israeli passport, and public statements from Gaza always mistakenly refer to them as “captive soldiers.” In negotiations, mostly conducted by Egyptian mediators, their release has been linked to the fate of two Israeli soldiers. Hadar Goldin and Oren Shaul fell in the 2014 Gaza war, their bodies are also in the hands of Hamas. Two dead and two living Israelis – for the rulers of Gaza, that’s a bargaining chip for powerful demands.

Since the Shalit deal at the latest, however, those responsible in Israel have become extremely reluctant to exchange prisoners. When the young soldier returned to Israel in 2011, 1,027 released Palestinian prisoners marched triumphantly into the Gaza Strip. Mass weddings were organized for the returning heroes, Hamas celebrated a tremendous victory, and Israel saw many of the freedmen rush back to the fray. Yahya Sinwar, who now heads Hamas in Gaza, is one of them.

With the video that has now been released, Hamas obviously wants to create new pressure in negotiations about an exchange. In order to prove the authenticity of the recordings, Al-Sajed’s Israeli ID card is also shown in the short clip. There is also a report running in the background on TV Al Jazeera to an event from the past week. Whether the hostage shown is really seriously ill or is only presented as such can hardly be clarified.

Israel’s government reacted to the video with outrage. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the publication “disgusting and shameful”. Foreign Minister Jair Lapid, who is now set to take over as prime minister after the coalition collapsed, called on the international community to condemn Hamas for its “inhumane behavior.”

Hisham al-Sajed’s father reacted to the pictures with mixed feelings. “It’s the first time I’ve seen him in seven years,” Shaban al-Sajed said. “He looks healthy to me.” He made an urgent appeal to Hamas: “Release him immediately. He has nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

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