Is it Fair to Judge Peace in the Middle East According to the Exchange of Hostages?
Photo Courtesy: Alexi J Rosenfeld via Getty Images
On Saturday, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza eagerly awaited the release of 620 family members, friends, and neighbours from Israeli prisons as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. But they waited in vain – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the following day that the release of the prisoners would be delayed ‘until the release of the next hostages is ensured,’ citing the ‘degrading’ handover of hostages by Hamas as a ceasefire breach.
In turn, Hamas reversed the accusation, calling Israel’s decision “’a deliberate attempt to disrupt the agreement.’
While the validity of both parties’ claims is debated and discussed, a glaring fact seems to go unnoticed: Saturday’s events are merely the most recent cracks in the fragile foundations of the ceasefire deal – if it stands on any foundation at all.
The deal, which took effect on January 19th, highlights the role of hostages as bargaining chips in a dangerous gamble; in publicised, eerily-dystopian scenes, captives are swapped like chess pieces while clad in slogan-bearing merchandise - pawns in the propaganda game played by Israel and Hamas. Though the scenes of tearful reunions between captives and their loved ones represent a long-awaited relief, such a narrow focus on the hostages guarantees little to no security in the region.
Consider the sickeningly ironic twist in Netanyahu’s accusations made on Sunday: Since January 19th, Israel has killed over 100 Palestinians, constituting what is perhaps the most blatant violation of a ceasefire possible. In the shadow of peace talks and prisoner exchanges in Gaza, Israel has also been expelling Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank, causing the largest forced displacement of Palestinians in the area since the 1967 Six Day War. Most recently, Israel deployed military tanks into the West Bank for the first time in over 20 years, just a day after the release of 6 Israeli hostages from Gaza.
Most troubling of all, the current ceasefire has failed to provide certainty for the future of the region and its residents. Hamas has claimed readiness to release all remaining hostages, but Netanyahu has wavered in talks regarding the second phase of the agreement, which would include complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire.
Saturday’s developments cast further doubt on the likelihood of a second phase of the deal, highlighting the volatile terms on which it has been made and raising questions about the fates of Palestinian prisoners, though these questions are rarely addressed in mainstream media coverage.
Of the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, over 3,000 are held without charge in so-called administrative detention, and it remains unclear how many are set to be released in the final hostage exchanges. Deemed a violation of human rights by Amnesty International, the arbitrary detention of many Palestinians by Israel serves as a reminder of the extent of Israeli control in the Palestinian territories. Indeed, there is a significant imbalance in motion here: equipped with a powerful military and illegally occupying Palestinian territory, it is laughably easy for Israel to arrest Palestinians and detain them without charge. What reason is there to believe this will change once the Israeli captives are returned?
With this in mind, it becomes increasingly difficult to view the hostage exchange as anything more than a distraction or a public relations stunt, crafted in part to quell anti-government protests in Israel demanding the hostages’ release.
While prisoners are traded on live television, money and weapons are traded behind closed doors, and the futures of 5 million Palestinians hang precariously in the balance. Hostages make headlines, but they do not make peace – peace cannot exist without justice.