Hamas knows once it released the last 10 hostages, then Israel can then go into those tunnels, flood them with water, flood them with whatever flammable substance that we can find, and that will be the end of Hamas.
Michael Oren explains Hamas's reluctance to release all hostages due to the potential consequences for the organization.
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If the ceasefire goes on, Hamas is going to use that period to lay more booby traps, to move equipment around.
We want to retain the regional alliance that emerged after last Saturday night of moderate Sunni state standing, you know, basically shoulder to shoulder with us against Iran.
Now it’s the first time that I’ve seen in history when we have the opportunity to make the strategy the strategy. It’s not a tactic.
Israel has to, on one hand, defend itself, defend the country, restore its internal security because we have 250,000 people who can't go back to their homes.