Felipe González Questions Hamas's Hostage Release Stance

Felipe González Asks Why Hamas Won't Release Hostages

“If Hamas doesn’t want children and women to be killed, why don’t they release the Israeli hostages?” This statement by Felipe González, former Prime Minister, was enough to reignite a persistent discussion. Minister Óscar Puente responded with “My God. What a disgrace.” Two sentences, zero figures, and a deep-seated issue that goes far beyond the cleverness of a question.

González’s reasoning is a simple cause-and-effect relationship: if the stated motive for the Israeli offensive is to recover those kidnapped on October 7, then the release of these hostages should end the matter. The objection to this logic is repeated insistently: the conflict did not begin on October 7.

What is the Response to González’s Question

The first reply is arithmetic. Why should it be assumed that the killings would stop if the hostages were released? It also questions why Israel does not release the thousands of Palestinians it holds prisoner and why it maintains operations in the West Bank, which Hamas does not govern. This double standard, for part of the analysis, is proof that the objective exceeds the recovery of the kidnapped.

The figures circulating are anything but neutral. There is talk of over 66,000 Palestinian deaths and an estimate attributed to the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese that raises the death toll to 680,000, of whom 380,000 would be children under five years old. These are disputed figures, offered as estimates and not as a final count. That is the swampy terrain where the battle is being fought.

At the other extreme, it is argued that Hamas’s use of the civilian population as human shields constitutes violence against Gazans themselves, and that this is the real war crime. The discussion gets stuck right there, on who is responsible for what.

Proportionality: The Neighbor, Loud Music, and the Dead Child

One of the arguments that best summarizes the problem is that of the neighbor playing loud music. If the noise bothers you, it would be outrageous to start killing their family and then ask why they don’t turn down the volume. The analogy is crude and deliberately extreme, but it points to the core: armed response is measured against the harm caused, not just against the stated objective.

The counterpoint comes from recent history. Cyprus in 1974 left displaced people on both sides of the island, and the issue remained frozen. Germany lost entire territories in 1945; Königsberg passed to Soviet hands, just as the Kuril Islands did for Japan. It is argued that wars are won or lost, and that the loser accepts the outcome. Applied to Gaza, this framework has a problem: there is no signed armistice here, but an ongoing occupation.

Born There: The 70% Who Didn’t Arrive by Boat

70% of the Israeli population was born in the territory. This fact, according to the most pragmatic analysis, dismantles the idea of a newly arrived population that could “return” to Europe. And it opens an uncomfortable derivative: returning lands to their owners before 1948 would also require compensating the Jews who lived in Gaza and the West Bank and were expelled from there.

The parallel used is the American one. No one expects Americans to abandon the continent because their ancestors displaced the native nations. Like it or not, that is the situation on the ground.

Potential Solutions on the Table

Concrete proposals are few and modest. An international occupation army, with or without a UN mandate, and a foreign provisional government with full powers to rebuild Gaza while preventing Hamas from accessing funds. The obstacle is the colossal network of tunnels under the enclave.

Another path: bring the United States, Russia, China, India, the EU, and the Arab League to a closed-door meeting with a map and emerge with the division decided. The doubt is whether a border signed by third parties can defuse decades of mutual grievance.

And the nuclear reminder: Israel is a nuclear power and is not going to leave. If it saw itself in danger of disappearing as a state, it would apply the Samson doctrine. This limits any scenario to negotiation, not surrender.

The Figures Repeated in Every Conversation

The average of five children per woman in Gaza is used as demographic data to explain population pressure and its political instrumentalization. Regarding the hostages, the most uncomfortable question remains: why are they still alive after months of bombing? There is no definitive answer.

With the offensive on the ground unresolved, the hostages unreleased, and no death toll accepted by all parties, Felipe González's question remains unanswered. Is it a legitimate question or a shortcut to avoid looking at the rest of the map?