This week, I met with Yarden Gonen, Dalia Cusnir, Lihi Moskow, relatives of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, as well as with Aviva Siegel, a relative, survivor, and former hostage.
We must insist, as an unshakable moral commitment, on the release and return of all hostages who were victims of the attacks perpetrated by Hamas last year.
The return of the hostages means a ceasefire, as has been proposed and announced repeatedly. Hamas holds the key to this ceasefire, and it is unjust that the Palestinian people of Gaza—children, women—are also hostages to Hamas's irrational refusal to fulfill an essentially human obligation. This irrationality of war, and prolonging the war, has already sown enough suffering, human rights violations, and the death of innocents. It is true that it is fundamental that there are no atrocities in any war, but it is also true that it is essential that there is no war, and the path to peace is the best way to prevent atrocities.
Our commitment to Peace must require that we, first of all, demand the release of the hostages, because their kidnapping has caused the war and their release will stop the war. Hamas must take responsibility for this, as otherwise, it is clearly a co-author of any atrocity. Of course, there will be some who, in the height of cynicism, will want the war to stop without the hostages returning, but this would mean the prevalence of the aggressor and pave the way for future aggressions.
It is time for a ceasefire, it is time for peace, it is time for the return of all hostages. No ethical duality on this matter is acceptable.
Reference: E-089/24
