Ryan Grim

@ryangrim · Twitter · 2026-09-09 01:22 UTC

Ha'aretz reports that Hamas, through Qatar, conveyed immediately on Oct. 7 that they were willing to return all the civilian hostages for nothing -- their only ask was for a mediator to arrange the exchange and establish a connection to then negotiate the further release of the soldiers. Israel refused to talk or hear about it. So Qatar reached out to Antony Blinken to let him know that Hamas was willing to release all the civilian hostages. Blinken told Qatar he didn't want to hear it because "Israel is still under attack, and there's no one to talk to." Blinken had the opportunity to free every single civilian hostage and de-escalate the situation. Instead he wanted war.