THE FOOTAGE OF HOSTAGES, many of them teenagers and younger, being seized and driven away crying and pleading with their captors, was as harrowing as the sight of the corpses Hamas left behind.
The slaughter of Israeli civilians on 7 October was intended to strike terror into the Israeli psyche and inflict a lasting wound. The hostage-taking was done for other reasons: as a brake on Israeli retaliation and to trade for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Seven weeks later, it has worked better as a bargaining chip than as a deterrent.
The estimated 240 hostages in Gaza did not stop the relentless bombing of Gaza or the ground offensive. Only last week, almost a month on, was a four-day lull agreed, arguably when it suited the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
The initial planned release of as many as 150 Palestinians, on the other hand, was an important gain for the mastermind of the 7 October attack, Yahya Sinwar, who spent more than
