[Salon] More Than Half of Hamas' Hostages Have Foreign Citizenship, Israel Says

[Chas Freeman <cwfresidence@gmail.com>]

FM: John Whitbeck

Transmitted below is a brief Reuters report, published by HAARETZ, which provides some interesting information on the nationalities of those believed to be held in Gaza by Hamas and other resistance groups. While the information comes from the Israeli government, it may be reasonably close to reality in this instance.

The scandal surrounding the live televised testimony of released hostage Yocheved Lifshitz about how well she was treated by her friendly Hamas captors, cited in the article on  "What Really Happened on 7th 0ctober" which I recently circulated, is likely to be very bad news for the remaining hostages.

Absolutely the last thing the Israeli government would wish to see is more released hostages speaking about how well they were treated by their captors -- and their captors have both religious and practical PR reasons to treat their "guests" well. Indeed, if any more hostages are released, it is highly likely that they will be "debriefed" until they sign a "consent" to imprisonment if they describe the conditions of their captivity in terms not approved by the government or disclose that they have signed such a non-disclosure agreement.

In light of the imperative governmental need to maintain the "human animals" narrative and particularly since most of the hostages appear to be foreign-born settlers or Asian farm workers, it is also probable that, if and when any ground invasion is launched, Israel will secretly invoke and implement the controversial "Hannibal Directive".

While the Hannibal Directive (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Directive) has never been published, it is widely understood to provide that, in exceptional circumstances, it may be in the higher interests of the state for Israeli citizens to be dead rather than to be held hostage, even if Israeli forces have to kill them themselves.

NOTE: Before speaking at length about her good treatment by her captors, Ms. Lifshitz said of the conditions of her capture and transport to Gaza that she "went through hell". Unsurprisingly, the NEW YORK TIMES headlined its article on her release "85-Year-Old Held Hostage in Gaza Says She Went Through Hell" (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/24/world/middleeast/israeli-hostage-gaza-yocheved-lifshitz.html). The online video embedded in the TIMES article cuts off before she talks about the conditions of her captivity. Only in the 12th paragraph of the article is there a single sentence on the conditions of her captivity: "Ms. Lifshitz said that she and others were relatively well taken care of, given medecine and the same food as her captors." Equally unsurprisingly, the BBC headlined its article on her release "I went through hell, says elderly hostage released by Hamas" (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67204479). One has to reach the 16th paragraph of the BBC article to find any mention of the decent conditions of her captivity.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-25/ty-article/more-than-half-of-hamas-hostages-have-foreign-citizenship-israel-says/0000018b-67be-d78a-a5eb-7fbf08360000

More Than Half of Hamas' Hostages Have Foreign Citizenship, Israel Says

The Israeli government says 138 of the hostages have foreign passports, including 15 Argentinians, 12 Germans, 12 Americans, six French, and six Russians

Reuters

Oct 25, 2023

More than half the estimated 220 hostages held by Hamas have foreign passports from 25 different countries, including 54 Thai nationals, the government said on Wednesday.

In providing updated figures, the government also said 328 people from 40 countries were confirmed as dead or missing after the surprise October 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel. In all, an estimated 1,400 people were killed in the assault.

The government said 138 of the hostages had foreign passports, including 15 Argentinians, 12 Germans, 12 Americans, six French, and six Russians.

Many were believed to have had dual Israeli nationality. Some, however, like the Thais and five Nepalese hostages, almost certainly did not. There was also one Chinese hostage, one Sri Lankan, two from Tanzania, and two from the Philippines.

Thais also made up the largest single group of foreign dead and missing, with 24 confirmed killed and 21 unaccounted for.

Among other foreign nations that suffered heavy losses were the United States, with 34 killed and five missing, Ukraine, with 25 killed and two missing, France, with 23 killed and one missing, and Russia, with 23 killed and four missing.

Five Chinese citizens were killed and one was missing, while Nepal had five killed and five missing.