Hamas has kidnapped more than 200 people in Gaza, according to the Israeli armed forces. Resilience and decision-making researcher Harri Gustafsberg estimates that the hostage situation is very inflamed and difficult to resolve.
The hostage situation in Gaza has escalated and there is no easy solution, says a researcher on resilience and decision-making Harri Gustafsbergwho has also worked as a police officer and has himself been involved in bank hostage situations.
The wave of violence began when the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas unexpectedly launched a large-scale attack on Israel on October 7. For the first time, Hamas fighters invaded several Israeli cities from Gaza, killing and abducting civilians.
According to the Israeli Armed Forces, the terrorist organization Hamas has kidnapped at least 203 people in Gaza. With the hostages, Hamas is trying to gain a bargaining chip in the conflict, estimates Gustafsberg, who was interviewed by morning on Friday.
However, the hostage situation in Gaza is remarkably difficult, as the hostages are citizens of several different countries and there are a large number of them. In addition to Hamas, smaller extremist organizations may also be holding hostages.
– Who negotiates and with whom? An extremely difficult situation, says Gustafsberg.
Basically, each country negotiates the release of its own citizens. Gathered negotiations, in which one party would negotiate the release of all hostages, do not sound realistic in Gustafsberg’s opinion.
According to Gustafsberg, it is also difficult for the authorities to get information about how many hostages there are exactly and how they are feeling. However, the authorities probably know more than they are telling the public, Gustafsberg points out.
The situation is also difficult because the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories is decades and even centuries old, and it also involves issues related to religion.
– There is a lot of religious ideology and religious and moral justification for one’s actions.
Killing prisoners complicates the problem
Shocking videos of people kidnapped by Hamas have spread on social media. Hamas has also reportedly killed some hostages and threatened to kill them.
According to Gustafsberg, by killing, Hamas tries to pressure Israel to make decisions and choices, but they make the situation more difficult. He considers torture and ill-treatment of hostages to be a bad strategy.
– Torture is strategically an extremely bad method, because it does not win anything for its side. Rather, it is usually about the choice of an individual person in an individual situation.
Negotiating with Hamas is an abhorrent option for Israel. In order to free the hostages, Israel may have to release a large number of Palestinians itself.
However, Gustafsberg says that negotiation is always the primary way to resolve the situation.
– In general, in hostage situations, negotiation is always one of the main operational tactics, because the other option means intervention, that is, we try to resolve the situation by means of force or violence. Force means are by far the riskiest option.
You can watch Gustafsberg’s entire interview on Areena.