Former Mossad official: Time to make Hamas leaders miserable, for ‘living it up’

 

Former chief of Mossad MIA unit says Israel should target Hamas leaders’ wallets, ‘make them miserable’ by cracking down on their daily lives, and even reject access to Israeli medical facilities for their families when treatment at Palestinian hospitals are available.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Israel must re-think its policy towards the Hamas terror organization, a former senior Mossad official told Army Radio, particularly with regard to the return of Israeli captives and slain IDF soldiers being held hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas billionaire Khaled Meshaal exercising in a private gym in a fancy part of Doha, Qatar. – Photo: Kate Geraghty

Rami Igra, former head of the Mossad agency’s MIA unit, said that under present circumstances, there was no realistic possibility for Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement securing the release of the captives held in Gaza.

The Hamas terror organization is currently holding three Israeli men captive, including Avraham Abera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed and Juma Ibrahim Abu Ghanima.

In addition, Hamas is holding the bodies of two slain IDF soldiers – Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul – killed during the 2014 Gaza conflict, for ransom, demanding Israel release dozens of jailed terrorists as a precondition to negotiations.

The only remedy, Igra said, is to directly pressure Hamas leaders, who for years have benefitted from the largesse of international aid intended for the residents of the Gaza Strip.

“We need to deal with the [Hamas] leadership. We need to make the lives of those [leaders] who are now living the good life miserable.”

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“In the negotiations surrounding the efforts to return our fallen soldiers from Operation Protective Edge there is an unbridgeable distance between us and the demands Hamas has made. Israel cannot even begin the negotiations – and the families [of the slain soldiers] know that.”

Sanctions on Gaza are not viable politically, Igra argued, because of international pressure.

“We can’t do anything against the supply of food or electricity; neither option is viable because of international pressure on Israel, which would not let us [do so]. But we can make the lives of Hamas leaders very unpleasant: stop treating them in Ichilov Hospital [in Tel Aviv], go after their bank [accounts] – hitting them in their wallets and their daily lives is doable.”

 

View original Arutz Sheva publication at:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/234713