Hamas officials visiting Moscow were quoted by Russian media on Friday as saying the militant group viewed all its hostages as Israelis, whatever additional passports they held, and could not release any of them until Israel agreed to a ceasefire.
Hamas wants this war to continue, so they probably won’t release all hostages any time soon. They want an offensive of Israel in Gaza with as many Palestinian civil casualties as possible. This gets them more sympathy, support and in turn increases the global pressure and critique on Israel.
Hamas is playing a really interesting game of chicken with the world politics…
They either release the hostages or they don’t, giving them more media attention for every statement is just encouraging them
Hamas wants this war to continue, so they probably won’t release all hostages any time soon. They want an offensive of Israel in Gaza with as many Palestinian civil casualties as possible. This gets them more sympathy, support and in turn increases the global pressure and critique on Israel.