On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning”, Sen. Tim Kaine ( D- VA ) stated that Hamas may be rejecting deals to release hostages because they do n’t want hostages to tell the world how Hamas brutalized them and possibly because” as long as Israel is overreacting, Hamas, who are very unconcerned about civilian casualties, may want this to play out longer” and Hamas knew” Israel would respond and would overrespond” and that has caused people like him to criticize Israel.
Senator, you objected to the United States giving Israel offensive arms at this point, according to co-host John Berman. Given the circumstances that, you said you wanted to see the United States no longer provide Israelis with offensive weapons. We learned, only this night, that Hamas is criticizing the most recent prisoner peace offer. They are said to also be thinking about it, but so far they’ve been very important of it. What does it reveal about Hamas ‘ continued opposition to ideas and hostage-taking plans for settlements and hostages change?
Kaine responded,” I think there]are ] a couple of things, John, going on: One, this is intuition, this is not based on intel., possibly, and this would be tragic, Hamas knows that not many of the hostages may still be alive, and those that are alive, when they are released, could tell stories about their brutal mistreatment by Hamas, and they’re worried about releasing hostages who will then tell those stories publicly, that’s part of it”.
He continued,” Next, appearance, Hamas knew, when it attacked Israel on October 7, that Israel would listen and do overrespond. They were aware of this, and the overreaction is undoubtedly causing a lot of us who have long supported Israel to say, you guys, do n’t turn your defense against Hamas into a full-fledged war against Gazans or Palestinians. In some ways, as long as Israel is overreacting, Hamas, who are very indifferent about civilian casualties, does want this to sing out more to make social upheaval in Israel or in the United States. There is a lot, and it’s difficult to ascertain how Hamas behaves because we have n’t spoken to them, but I’ve been concerned about this deal, which has been rumored to be tantalizingly close for months and only to veer back. And those are some of my initial predictions of what might be going on.
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