Israel offers Palestinians money in exchange for hostage information

Israeli authorities, through text messages, are offering money to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in exchange for information about hostages and kidnappers, according to information from CNN.

A journalist from the news channel received a message in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) asked for “reliable information about the kidnapped persons or their kidnappers”.

“Do you want to end the war? If you have reliable information about the abductees or their kidnappers, do not hesitate to contact us and you could receive a valuable cash reward,” said the text, which was accompanied by two telephone numbers and a link to a website with photos and information about the Israeli hostages.

About 33 hostages are dead

_{Israel pays tribute to Israelis killed during the war. (Photo: Reproduction/EFE/Manuel Bruque).}

At the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, on October 7, the extremist group kidnapped more than 240 people in Israeli territory. In November, after an agreement, around 105 hostages were released in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

It is estimated that Hamas still holds 130 hostages in the Gaza Strip and, according to Israeli authorities, 33 of them are dead.

In a recent interview with the BBC, 19-year-old Itay Regev, who was kidnapped by the extremist group during a music festival on the day of the attack on Israel, made an appeal about the need for “return the hostages at any cost.”

According to Regev, the conditions of captivity in Gaza are “horrible” and the kidnappers are “very, very cruel.” For the young man, Both the Israeli government and the international community must “do everything” to recover those kidnapped.

“I'm sure if someone had their child kidnapped, they wouldn't really care about the price that needed to be paid. We need to return the hostages at any cost.” declared Itav Regev.

Hamas presents ceasefire proposal

On March 15, according to information from the Reuters agency, Hamas presented a new proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which, for Israel, contains “unrealistic demands”.

In the agreement brokered by Egypt and Qatar, the extremist group guarantees the release of Israeli hostages – including, initially, only women, children, the elderly and the sick – in exchange for the freedom of 700 to a thousand Palestinian prisoners.

The text presented by Hamas also includes the sending of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, in addition to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the territory. These actions, however, would only have a compliance date after the exchange of hostages.

Featured photo: family members of Hamas hostages during a demonstration in front of the home of UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in New York, on December 15th. (Reproduction/AFP/MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO).