Hostage's father "A deal of surrender and shame"

 

Tzvika Mor, whose son Eitan is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, explained in an interview with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News the mixed feelings regarding the implementation of the hostage deal, which he describes as "shameful."

"There are three levels of emotions: joy for each one who has already returned. This situation where our girls are there, in the hands of Hamas, is unacceptable, and we are happy that they are returning and look, at least physically, good. On the second level, we are concerned for our son who unfortunately was not included in this deal, and we don't know what will happen next. On the third level, there is great concern for the people of Israel,” said Mor.

“In the Tikva Forum, we fought for the release of the hostages to be done in a way that not only does not harm Israel's security, but strengthens its resilience and deterrence so that no one gets hurt. We know what happens when terrorists are released. Now we see that the terrorists are returning to their villages for celebrations, which are actually recruitment parties for terrorist organizations. We know that this deal will cost us, unfortunately, a lot of blood. We are deeply saddened that the release of the hostages was done this way," he explained.

Mor said that he is having trouble understanding the definitions and conditions of the deal. "I think the whole idea of defining a hostage as a ‘humanitarian case’ is problematic. Isn't my son, after 15 months in captivity, a humanitarian case? Moreover, how can this be what the Israeli government gives us? A bad deal of surrender that doesn't save all the hostages. Not to mention that we are withdrawing from Gaza, releasing terrorists, and this is surrender and shame.”

“Right now, it looks very bad. It seems like the war is over. A million Gazans will return to the north and establish themselves there. How will we move them later? Additionally, Trump wants quiet here. I am very concerned, and I think every citizen in the State of Israel should be concerned," Mor added.

He feels that the national religious and right-wing public was silenced to prevent a strong protest against the deal. "There was a huge campaign here that caused the national religious public and the right-wing public, in particular, to stay home, a campaign that caused us to go out and sing in the square on Tuesday instead of shouting and demanding victory and questioning why we sacrificed hundreds of soldiers if we return to a situation where Hamas controls Gaza."

Now, his demand is that all the hostages are brought back in the first stage of the deal. "If the Israeli government decided to surrender - and it's a pity they did - at least they should return all the hostages at this stage. Negotiations [on the second phase] are supposed to start on the 16th day, and everyone should return. There can't be groups or selections. We want to see everyone return, and then we'll deal with the Gaza Strip so that it no longer poses a threat to the State of Israel."