The Ultimate Solution to the Hamas Hostage Crisis: A Game-Changing Perspective

Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst, vice president at New America, professor at Arizona State University, and host of the Audible podcast "In the Room With Peter Bergen," also available on Apple and Spotify, serves on the advisory council of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, advocating for US hostages. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. For more opinion, visit CNN.

Israeli officials report that up to 150 hostages are currently being held in Gaza, while the White House states that 17 Americans are missing and Hamas may be responsible for an undisclosed number of them.

Peter Bergen

CNN

Hamas has threatened to execute hostages and broadcast video of the execution if Israel strikes targets in Gaza without warning.

Negotiating the release of hostages is the approach with the least risk involved. While few governments have influence over Hamas, Qatar stands out as it has provided substantial financial support to impoverished Gazan families in recent years. Qatar has proven itself capable of mediating such releases, as seen last month when Qatari officials successfully facilitated the liberation of five American prisoners held by Iran. This negotiation involved the unfreezing of $6 billion worth of Iranian oil revenues, which were then sent to a Qatari bank and allocated for humanitarian efforts in Iran.

Qatari officials are currently in talks with Hamas to negotiate the release of the hostages they are currently holding. In the past, Hamas has been known to demand a significant prisoner exchange, such as the 2011 trade where they released Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

{{img_placeholder_1}}

gaza damage israel airstrikes pkg wedeman vpx_00001130.png

Opinion: We have no escape routes in Gaza

Aside from negotiated releases, there exist alternatives such as rescue operations conducted by specialized forces. However, these operations heavily rely on having precise information about the hostages' whereabouts. Though offering their expertise and support to Israel, US special operations forces are not involved in any ground mission to rescue hostages.

Currently, there is no information regarding the whereabouts of the hostages, and Gaza is filled with underground tunnels under the control of Hamas, which adds difficulty in locating the hostages if they are hidden in these tunnels.

In 2012, when American journalists and aid workers were abducted by ISIS, the United States conducted a rescue mission in 2014, relying on indications that they were being held in a specific area in Syria. However, by the time the operation took place, the hostages had been relocated. Tragically, ISIS proceeded to kill the American captives.

Rescuing hostages can pose risks, even with the involvement of highly trained special operations forces. A distressing incident took place in 2010 when British aid worker Linda Norgrove was captured by the Taliban, prompting a rescue mission executed by US Navy SEAL Team Six. Tragically, investigations later unveiled that Norgrove lost her life due to a fragmentation grenade thrown by a member of the SEAL team during the operation.

Sign up for CNN Opinions newsletter

Join us on Twitter and Facebook

During a rescue mission conducted by SEAL Team Six in Yemen in 2014, American journalist Luke Somers lost his life at the hands of his al Qaeda captors. A research study conducted in 2017, which I co-authored for New America, indicated that out of 42 instances in the past 15 years where Western hostages were taken by terrorist organizations and a rescue operation was executed, the hostages suffered fatal consequences in 20% of these cases.

The safest option for freeing the hostages is through a negotiated release, possibly with the involvement of Qatar. It would be highly beneficial if Hamas could initiate the release of the children and elderly hostages they currently seem to be holding.