Israelis, for now, are tolerating Hamas’s manipulations, hoping to return home as many hostages as possible. Yet, as the pause in battle was extended Monday, fears of complications are growing, including the possibility that top terrorists could escape Gaza along with Israeli abductees. 

On Monday, Hamas released nine Israeli children and two mothers, as well as six Thais. An agreement to extend the four-day war pause by 48 hours was also reached after negotiations involving Israel, Qatar — which is sponsoring Hamas — Egypt, and America. The extension was made possible once Hamas said it “found” 20 additional children and women to release in two days.

The terrorist organization has long said that some of the October 7 abductees are being held by other Gaza factions and clans — including the family of a 10-month-old toddler known as Baby Kfir. Regardless, Hamas is responsible for their release, the National Security Counciil’s spokesman, John Kirby, said Monday. 

Hamas is hoping that by extending the hostage release process, it would force Israel to drop its declared goal of obliterating the organization. At the same time, the terrorist group’s top leaders are reportedly using the lull in fighting to plan how to get out of the Strip along with hostages. 

Hamas’s tunnel system has proved much more elaborate than previously known, public broadcaster Kan reports. Some of the tunnels in southern Gaza, built to smuggle goods into the Strip from Egypt, are wide enough for vehicles to traverse.

Top Israeli targets, such as Hamas’s Gaza leader, Yehya Sinwar, and military chief, Mohammed Deif, could use those complex tunnels to get out to Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, according to Kan. From there, they could go to a friendly country — Yemen, Lebanon, or even Iran. If hostages are dragged along with them, the price for their release could rise tremendously. 

Some in Israel warn that as yet there is no clear evidence for such a scenario. “It is possible, but beyond press rumors there we see nothing concrete,” a former head of research in the IDF’s intelligence unit, Yossi Kuperwasser, tells the Sun. Yet, if it does materialize, battle plans could become more complex. It would also embarrass Egypt, Mr. Kuperwasser says. 

Egypt is one of the interlocutors in the hostage negotiations. It has influence in Gaza, but unlike Qatar, which finances Hamas and hosts its political leaders, Cairo is at war with the Muslim Brotherhood, which has spawned Hamas. To enhance its diplomatic image, Egypt insists that hostages would be freed in its territory, at Gaza’s Rafah crossing. 

The four days of releases since Friday were marked by delays and violations of agreements. No Red Cross visits and medical assistance to unreleased hostages, for one, are allowed by Hamas. One hostage, 74-year-old Elma Avraham, was returned to Israel over the weekend in critical condition, after she was deprived of life-saving medications while in Hamas dungeons.

An agreement that children would be released along with their mothers has also been violated. On Monday, Hamas gave Israel a list of 11 released children, but said it could not locate their mothers. After pressure on Doha from Jerusalem, Washington, and Cairo, the list was amended to include two mothers who Hamas said were somehow found. 

Also violated is Israel’s insistence that families remain intact, following the release Saturday of 12-year-old Hadas Rotem without her mother, Raya, whom Hamas said it could not find. Yet, the young Hadas Rotem told Israeli reporters that she had been held together with her mother until two days before the release, when the mother was taken away. 

Meanwhile the Bibas family remains in Gaza. On Monday the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, told Sky News that Yarden Bibas, his wife, Shiri, their 4-year-old son, Ariel, and 10-month-old baby, Kfir, have been transferred to the hands of a Hamas-friendly  Gaza clan.

Kfir Bibas, who is yet to start walking, has become a symbol of the hostages’ plight. His Baby Kfir picture has become one of the October 7 atrocities’ most recognizable images. 

The IDF’s release of the location where the Bibas family is held was apparently designed to stress Hamas’s obligations. “Israel sees Hamas as responsible for all hostages, especially the Bibas family that is held by another clan,” the IDF spokesman, Admiral Daniel Hagari, told reporters Monday.

Hamas hopes to use the hostages to milk world sympathy. “To the Generals who held us,” Danielle Aloni wrote in Hebrew, “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the extreme humanity shown to me and my daughter, Emilia.” The two were held under the ground for more than 50 days.

Relatives of returned hostages say that they have lost weight, living on a diet of rice and pitas. Bathroom breaks were difficult to get. An elderly woman could not get used to sunlight after 50 days in a dark tunnel. 

Despite Hamas’s duplicity, hostage families are pressuring the government to allow additional releases beyond the 50 hostages freed so far — even if it means risking delay in military operations and smuggling hostages out of Gaza.