How Benjamin Netanyahu's Brother Helped Resolve Israel's Hostage Crisis

Air raids against Hamas will not dismantle its structure completely and a ground attack is the only way to go, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated. In a conversation with US President Joe Biden, Mr Netanyahu has said, "We have to go in," news site Axios has reported.  

In a telephonic conversation with President Biden on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said Israel does not have any choice but to unleash a ground operation in Gaza, according to three Israeli and US sources briefed on the call, reported Axios.

In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan Nahoum seconded the opinion, making it clear that the hostage situation has led to a crisis, where Israel's options were limited.

"I don't believe this is a war that can be fought alone from air, especially because we have hostages in there," she said.  

While Israel is keeping its cards close to its chest, Ms Nahoum also made clear the value Israel places on the lives of its citizens and underscored that freeing them is the first priority.  

For Israel, a ground operation to rescue hostages is not a first.  

Prime Minister Netanyahu's elder brother Yonatan (Yoni) Netanyahu -- one of the most celebrated military heroes of Israel -- was part of the best known such operation, Operation Entebbe in 1976, where more than 100 captured Jewish hostages were rescued.  

Operation Entebbe  

On July 4, 1976, Yoni Netanyahu -- already a decorated officer of the Israeli army's elite Sayeret Matkal -- led the mission that freed 102 Jewish hostages being held in Uganda's Entebbe by members of the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine" and a leftist West German radical group "Red Army Faction".

The hostages were among the passengers of an Air France flight from Athens headed for Tel Aviv. It was hijacked by the terrorists, who flew them to Uganda -- then a violent regime under dictator Idi Amin, who was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause.  

The terrorists freed those of the plane's 258 passengers who did not appear to be Israeli or Jewish and held the rest hostage. Their demand was the release of 53 terrorists in jails across Israel, Kenya, West Germany, and a few other nations.

In response, Israel flew in a commando group of around 200 soldiers in four Hercules aircraft.

The Israeli commandos breached the terminal where the hostages were being held, managed to rescue 102 people and killed all the terrorists and dozens of Ugandan soldiers. Three of the hostages were killed in the crossfire.

Yoni Netanyahu was killed during the raid -- the only Israeli casualty. In his honor, the raid was later named Mivtsa Yonatan (Operation Yonatan).

Hostages Of Hamas  

Currently the Israel authorities have no number for the citizens abducted from the villages and towns near Gaza. Reports put the figure at around 130. Ms Nahoum said the government has now established a hotline and deputed a team led by a General to coordinate with the families who had their loved ones abducted.

But while Entebbe created a template for Israel in dealing with hostage situations -- no negotiation and no compromise -- Ms Nahoum said Israel should do all it can to secure the release of its innocent citizens.  

Despite all their threats, Hamas, she said, "essentially want some of their own prisoners back". Asked if it means that Israel should go for a prisoner exchange, she said while all Palestinian prisoners in Israel are terrorists, "we have a very high value for life... and I believe we should do anything we need to do in order to get our innocent citizens back".

This, she however added, was her personal opinion and she cannot "speak for the government".