"Hamas will likely use the hostages as trump cards to draw out the ceasefire, and so to remain in power in Gaza. Should it succeed, that will result in a serious blow to Israel's deterrent power, to the point of an existential threat to it,” Ben-Yishai wrote in Yediot Ahronot.
"The longer the ceasefire goes on, the greater the pressure the United States of America and other parties in the West will exert on Israel to end the war and be satisfied with the extensive destruction that has already been caused in the Gaza Strip and renewing the security measures on the border to the satisfaction of the residents of the Gaza region. Hamas will use the hostages the way a poker player uses his cards.”
“Hamas will try to damage the collective mental resilience of Israeli citizens through this use of hostages. If we want to live, we need to be stronger. We cannot show him us or its Iranian supporters that their attempts at psychological warfare are effective.”
“We must remember that a strong and threatening Israel will succeed in freeing more hostages, or even all of them, far faster and with no unfathomable strategic costs.”
