Edit: It looks like the argument here is that the US is not calling for an instant ceasefire, but instead saying that one is very important to have. China and Russia say it should be immediate. The US also tied it to hostage talks.
Another resolution is in the works to call for an immediate ceasefire, but the US is expected to veto it because they believe it could endanger hostage talks.
treating the hostages as merely bargaining chips ignores that they are innocent civilians caught in this idiotic conflict through no fault of their own.
The way I see it if we look at Hamas side - That’s the only bargaining chips that Hamas has. They’ve got nothing else, nil. Hamas is very dependent on the hostages and they know they would receive greater retaliation from the Israeli after the Oct 7 attack if they didn’t have any hostages. During the attack, the strategy is basically two prongs - get rid of the soldiers, and get as many hostages alive so we can still survive (yes, some hostages did get killed during the real due to some reasons such as miscommunication during the execution of their operations by separate fringe parties). For that very reason, they try to keep the hostages alive because the moment they lost their hostages without any meaningful peace deal, they are basically done.
Like I said, I understand the reasoning but it’s not morally acceptable. And I think it’s important to point that out.
Like it might be rational for a death row inmate to steal a nuclear bomb and demand a pardon by threatening to blow up a city.
But there is still a moral case that it is wrong to do so.
Sadly that’s the way things are done when their own survival are at stake. Emotion and moral are not much considered in (their) strategic decision making. People are just pawns on the chessboard.
The same can be said of Bibi and the IDF. They see Palestinians as ‘vermin’ that must be eradicated and not people who, according to the creation of Israel post-WW2 by the UN, have a right to live on the land as well.
Until Israel is forced to follow the UN’s original intention and Hamas is completely dismantled, there will be no peace in the ME.
