'You want to return home?': Israel's callous attempts to lure Palestinian cooperation for captive intel

In Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting domestic pressure to pause the war in Gaza to release the remaining captives.

Israeli occupation forces dropped leaflets in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, pressuring residents to provide information about the captives taken by Hamas on October 7, as the regime continues to relentlessly pummel the besieged enclave.

The leaflets feature images of dozens of captives still in Gaza, accompanied by a message enticing cooperation.

“You want to return home? Please report if you identified one of them,” read the message, which also listed a phone number and a link to a website containing images and names of the captives in Arabic.

“They are asking people’s help because they are unable to get to their hostages because of the resistance,” said Abu Ali, a north Gaza resident.

“End the war, Netanyahu, and get your people back,” he told Reuters.

Israeli army has dropped leaflets that state they have conditioned the forced displacement of Palestinian citizens (war crime) on the return of the hostages. So, although their abduction had nothing to do with them Palestinian citizens are being collectively punished (war crime). https://t.co/PC9eqWToFV
— Naks Bilal (@NaksBilal) January 20, 2024

Israel waged the deadly genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, following Hamas’ surprise attack, which saw the group infiltrate the occupied territories through air, land and sea while returning to Gaza with at least 240 captives.

Tel Aviv has since vowed to reduce the besieged enclave to rubble and eliminate Hamas, a goal that analysts have widely described as unrealistic.

Despite Israel citing its goal as eliminating Hamas in Gaza to justify its war, the occupation has targeted civilian structures, while 70% of those killed have been women and children.

Israel has so far killed 25,105 Palestinians and injured 62,681 in Gaza.

Mediated by Qatar, the host of a Hamas political bureau, and Egypt, a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel saw the release of at least 110 Israeli and foreign captives from Gaza as well as 240 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons. The truce lasted between November 24 and December 1.

Missile attacks across Middle East raise risks for escalation in Gaza

In Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting domestic pressure to pause the war in Gaza to release the remaining captives, with almost daily protests taking place in the Israeli-occupied areas.

On Saturday, relatives of the captives gathered outside Netanyahu’s house, urging him to negotiate a deal with Hamas for their release.

Israeli war cabinet minister and former military chief Gadi Eizenkot said a deal is necessary to ensure the release of captives. Netanyahu, however, has pledged to pursue “complete victory” against Hamas, though he has failed to provide specifics of such a strategy.