[jfman]

Originally Posted by Pierre

I don't the releasing of the hostages would stop Israel, but it may make them open to a temporary cease fire, and or a string of cease fires enabling people to leave, aid to get it in etc.

It's one of them, Netanyahu said so in his speech last week.

Well the problem is that Hamas and pretty much every bordering state would happily ethnically cleanse all Jews, without a second thought.

There’s no real evidence for the claim that any of the states bordering Israel want to ethnically cleanse Jews. It’s a Zionist dog whistle.

The two state solution is a non-starter because Palestinians don't want it, and have already turned it down at least once. For Palestinians and Palestinian supporters the only solution is one state solution.....a Palestinian state, from the river to the sea.

Therefore, it is logical that the only solution for Israel is a one state solution...... Israel, from the river to the sea.

Call it what you want.

It’s definitely a non-starter if Israel are complicit in the political functioning, and funding, of Hamas over the status of the Palestinian authority.

The scenario you describe would be called genocide because that’s what it would be, not because anyone on this forum claimed it so.

So they should release the hostages then, and there may be room to talk

Doesn’t sound like much of a commitment to be honest.

you don't think the hostages should be immediately, unconditionally released?

You asked the question why you don’t hear as many people calling for it. I simply pointed out the biggest threat to the lives of any hostages is the same threat to all the civilians (including women and children) in Gaza. An Israeli bomb.

At some point it’s up to people how they want to expend their energy, and there’s a clear rationale for why a ceasefire is of greater humanitarian importance than the release of hostages. The only rationale for not doing so is valuing a lesser number of Israeli lives above a greater number of Palestinian ones.