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Peace or peril? Hostage Forum challenges Palestinian state recognition
Amidst rising calls from European nations to recognize Palestinian statehood, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has called the moves counterproductive to peace, as 50 hostages remain in Hamas captivity for 663 days.
“Recognizing a Palestinian state while 50 hostages remain trapped in Hamas tunnels amounts to rewarding terrorism,” a spokesperson for the forum said on Wednesday morning. “Such recognition is not a step toward peace, but rather a clear violation of international law and a dangerous moral and political failure that legitimizes horrific war crimes.”
The forum emphasized that a state cannot be founded on the basis of abducting men, women, and children, holding them against their will in inhumane conditions underground, and starved while enduring physical and mental abuse.
The forum noted that recognition of a Palestinian state before the release of the remaining hostages would send a message that terrorist activities would be validated as a legitimate pathway to political goals. They called for the international community to join the United States’ efforts, to call for the release of the hostages, followed by an end to fighting.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-862723“Recognizing a Palestinian state while 50 hostages remain trapped in Hamas tunnels amounts to rewarding terrorism,” a spokesperson for the forum said on Wednesday morning. “Such recognition is not a step toward peace, but rather a clear violation of international law and a dangerous moral and political failure that legitimizes horrific war crimes.”
The forum emphasized that a state cannot be founded on the basis of abducting men, women, and children, holding them against their will in inhumane conditions underground, and starved while enduring physical and mental abuse.
The forum noted that recognition of a Palestinian state before the release of the remaining hostages would send a message that terrorist activities would be validated as a legitimate pathway to political goals. They called for the international community to join the United States’ efforts, to call for the release of the hostages, followed by an end to fighting.