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The Israeli government said<\/a> its new ground offensive in Gaza is meant to raise pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages captured in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. But family members of some of the hostages are condemning the offensive as fundamentally at odds with that goal, warning that escalating the conflict could have potentially fatal consequences for living hostages and make it more difficult to secure the return of the deceased ones.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s announcement of the offensive over the weekend was \u201cthe worst news that we could have received,\u201d Yotam Cohen, the brother of Nimrod Cohen, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier who was captured by Hamas on Oct. 7 and is believed to still be alive, told Foreign Policy <\/em>on May 19.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Israeli government said<\/a> its new ground offensive in Gaza is meant to raise pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages captured in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. But family members of some of the hostages are condemning the offensive as fundamentally at odds with that goal, warning that escalating the conflict could have potentially fatal consequences for living hostages and make it more difficult to secure the return of the deceased ones.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s announcement of the offensive over the weekend was \u201cthe worst news that we could have received,\u201d Yotam Cohen, the brother of Nimrod Cohen, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier who was captured by Hamas on Oct. 7 and is believed to still be alive, told Foreign Policy <\/em>on May 19.<\/p>\n Cohen said the offensive\u2014dubbed Operation Gideon\u2019s Chariots\u2014is \u201ceverything we\u2019ve been concerned about\u201d and \u201cwarned against\u201d because it \u201ccan endanger the lives of the hostages.\u201d He\u2019s worried that the new operation will prolong the war and prevent the release of the remaining 58 hostages, roughly 20 of whom are thought to still be alive.<\/p>\n After intense Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed hundreds of Palestinians over the course of several days, the IDF said<\/a> on May 18 that troops had begun \u201cextensive ground operations\u201d throughout Gaza.<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on May 19 that Israel is moving to take control of \u201call of Gaza.\u201d He has also ordered a limited amount of aid to be let into Gaza after a nearly three-month blockade. The Israeli leader signaled that the decision to partially lift the blockade was in response to pressure from Western allies such as the United States.<\/p>\n Ruby Chen, the father of American Israeli IDF soldier Itay Chen, told FP that he\u2019s very concerned the new offensive will also make it more difficult to retrieve the remains of deceased hostages like his son.<\/p>\n Itay was initially thought to be held alive by Hamas, but the IDF reported<\/a> in March that he\u2019d been killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and that his body was taken into Gaza. Hamas has not confirmed that it has the Israeli soldier\u2019s remains.<\/p>\n Chen, who decried Hamas\u2019s actions as the \u201clowest form of psychological warfare that you can think of,\u201d recently urged<\/a> the United Nations Security Council to enforce a resolution that obligates parties in armed conflicts to return the remains of missing persons. \u201cWe just need to have closure,\u201d Chen said. \u201cWe are all children of God.\u201d<\/p>\n But Chen also sees the Israeli government as part of the problem. Netanyahu \u201cdoesn\u2019t know how to finish,\u201d Chen said. The United States has given Netanyahu a \u201cblank check\u201d throughout the war to \u201cdo whatever he wants,\u201d Chen said, but the Israeli leader has been \u201cunsuccessful.\u201d Regarding the new ground offensive in Gaza, Chen said it\u2019s hard to understand why Netanyahu believes \u201cusing the same tactic will get a different outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics of Netanyahu have accused him of continuing the war in order to appease far-right members of his fragile coalition government and thus ensure his own political survival.<\/p>\n Cohen said he and his family members were among the first relatives of hostages to \u201cpublicly state that we think that the government is prolonging the war for political or personal reasons,\u201d adding that they\u2019re \u201cseeing more and more evidence there is no reason to continue the war\u201d as time goes on.<\/p>\n As they keep pushing for the release of the remaining hostages, both Cohen and Chen said that the Trump administration has been far more communicative and helpful than the Israeli government.<\/p>\n Chen applauded the Trump administration\u2014and particularly U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, whom he said has a \u201cbig Jewish heart\u201d\u2014for recently securing the release of American Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to say, as an Israeli citizen, we\u2019re getting much more updates and much more help from the American administration than what we\u2019re getting from the Israeli government. Even though I\u2019m an Israeli citizen, the amount of support, help, and cooperation we\u2019ve been getting from the U.S. administration, from this current administration, is astounding,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cI feel betrayed by my country, which is a terrible feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n But recent pressure put on the Israeli government by the United States and European countries is a \u201cpositive\u201d development, Cohen added, and \u201chopefully it will prevent or at least halt the ground campaign inside Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n The leaders of France, Canada, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement<\/a> on May 19 condemning the Israeli government for ramping up the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cWe strongly oppose the expansion of Israel\u2019s military operations in Gaza. The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable,\u201d the statement read. It criticized Netanyahu\u2019s announcement that a \u201cbasic quantity<\/a>\u201d of food would be let in as \u201cwholly inadequate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions,\u201d the statement warned. \u201cIf Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n