Are there “Arabs” among the Israeli hostages kidnapped by “Hamas” on October 7, 2023? That is the claim of an Arab-Israeli reader of Middle East Transparent (Shaffaf), who reproaches us for not mentioning the Arab Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
The fact is that we did not know that there were “Arabs” (Arab Israelis) among the hostages kidnapped by Hamas. This was never mentioned by al-Jazeera (obviously!), nor by France 24 or even by American TV channels.
The Arab-Israeli reader sent us the following text:
A source in the Israeli Forum for the families of Gaza hostages told Panet website and Panorama newspaper that “many people do not know that among the hostages are Arab citizens from the Negev. In fact, at first we had no information about some of them as they were considered “missing”, but now the picture has become clear, and it turns out that all of them are being held by Hamas”.
Adding: “we want to communicate with the families of the hostages from the Arab community, and we want to cooperate with them, and convey their voice to the whole world. We want world leaders to know that among those kidnapped are members of the Arab community.”
In an article published by the Israeli “Bokra” website, Mr. Waheed Al-Huzayel says that “a total of 6 Arab hostages from the Negev region are being held by Hamas. No information is available on their present situation.
What is the legal attitude towards the hostages problem?
We refer the reader to the ICJ Gaza ruling commented for us by an Arab expert on International Law:
METransparent (Shaffaf, in Arabic) submitted the ruling to an ARAB lawyer and expert on International Law, who requested not to be named for professional reasons.
His answers:
« The international court’s ruling went further, that is, better, than was expected. Basically, the International Court could have rejected the « lawsuit » submitted by the state of South Africa on the pretext that « South Africa is not an injured (= concerned) party » in the Gaza war. Usually, the court considers a claim by an injured (i.e. concerned) state against another state.
…
On the other hand, the court could not request a ceasefire because the second party was an “armed group” and not a state.
Otherwise, the decision would amount to requesting that Israel alone ceases fire.
Adding that:
Even the resolution issued by the Court, which is the furthest that could be reached, would be « worthless » if « Hamas » does not release all the Israeli « hostages » it retains, because « taking hostages » violates the « Laws of War ».
But some of those captured are soldiers and officers of the IDF, not simple “civilians” ?
«Even in that case»,he explains, « all hostages held by « Hamas » are considered « hostages» , not «prisoners of war» because they were not captured during a military action.
Even a soldier captured outside of combat is a «hostage», not a «prisoner» of war”.
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So this isn’t about antisemitism. Jews caught lying another time