Channel 12 News military analyst Nir Dvori believes Hamas is trying to delay the ground incursion by releasing hostages bit by bit.
"Is this reasonable?" Dvori asked. "How do we look in the eyes of our neighbors in the region? Israel needs to be leading processes, not led."
Dvori stressed, "We need to defeat [them], all the options are bad, but the question is where we are headed to."
On October 7, 1,500 Hamas terrorists and 1,400 Gazan "civilians" infiltrated Israel, taking over key posts and entering Israeli communities massacring families, beheading babies, raping women and girls, burning homes, and plundering their victims' belongings. At the same time, at least 222 Israelis were taken hostage and brought to Gaza.
Earlier this week, Hamas released a mother and daughter who hold dual citizenship and who live abroad, and on Monday night the terror group released two additional women, both elderly; the women's husbands are still being held hostage in Gaza.