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Moving forward, negotiations between the two sides are going to get harder, said Prof Gelvin.
Over time, Hamas is going to try to take advantage of the fact that the Israelis really want their hostages back, and they are going to negotiate as well as they can and “put Israel in a very difficult position”.
Ms Blumenfeld noted the complexity of the situation.
On one hand, the hostages give Hamas leverage as they can free their own prisoners.
However, from an international public image perspective, the pictures of children and babies held captive make for a “public relations disaster”, said Ms Blumenfeld.
“For the Israelis, it’s almost the opposite. As long as there are hostages being held, it’s heartbreaking… The minute those children are returned and the fighting resumes, then the Israelis are going to look like the bad guys,” she said.
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