Rough Notes on Hostages & ‘Human Shields’
Audio Commentary on the Israel-Hamas War for Paying Subscribers
There are more than 200 mostly civilian hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas — a war crime that Hamas leaders for which Hamas leaders need to be held accountable.
It is unclear, however, how the Israeli government plans to win their release — or if they see the hostages as more than a rhetorical tool to win sympathy from the public. That sounds harsh, I know. But how else to read this from an ABC report on the war:
Hostages and civilian casualties will be secondary to destroying Hamas, Economy Minister Nir Barakat told ABC News, "even if it takes a year."
The argument here seems to be that the hostages can serve as rationale for the war, but that their release is not important enough to make other war-related issues secondary. In this way, as I argue in the audio commentary below, their rhetorical use is similar to what Israel is accusing Hamas of doing with the larger Palestinian population — using them as human shields.
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