Not a Peace Deal: Double Speak and Double Standards

Indeed, many analysts, human rights experts, and even some UN officials argue that in practice, the Palestinians held by Israel can be considered hostages because the detentions function as a form of leverage or political control. Although Israel does not explicitly define them as hostages or state the use of threats to compel specific actions by third parties, Palestinians are often detained arbitrarily or indefinitely under administrative detention laws without charge or trial. This allows Israel to use detention as a tool to suppress resistance or coerce compliance from the broader Palestinian population.

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has described detained Palestinians as "largely falling in the category of hostages," emphasizing that many are uninvolved civilians seized to pressure Palestinians collectively to comply or not resist. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and B’Tselem document that administrative detention and other forms of imprisonment are used to intimidate, isolate, and control Palestinians, often amounting to collective punishment, which is prohibited under international law.

Regarding civilian casualties, reports indicate that about 75% of Palestinian deaths in recent conflicts, particularly among women and children, are often dismissed by Israeli authorities as "collateral damage"—unintended victims of military operations targeting militants or infrastructure. This rationale is deeply contested by international observers and human rights organizations, which argue that the scale and conduct of Israeli military actions often constitute disproportionate or indiscriminate harm, amounting to violations of international humanitarian law and possibly war crimes.

In summary:

• While Israel officially does not define detained Palestinians as hostages, many human rights experts argue their detention operates as hostage-taking under a political or practical sense, as a means of control and deterrence without due legal process.

• Administrative detention allows for indefinite imprisonment without trial based on secret evidence, functioning as leverage over Palestinians.

• The high civilian death toll among Palestinian women and children is often rationalized by Israel as collateral damage, though this is widely disputed internationally as disproportionate harm and potential war crimes.​

Under broader definitions of state terrorism and the historical record, many experts and analysts argue that Israel has engaged in tactics that constitute state terrorism against Palestinians long before October 2023. Historically, Israeli military and state actions—including the occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967, chronic use of administrative detention, military operations causing civilian casualties, home demolitions, restrictions on movement, and policies leading to displacement—have been described as systemic efforts to terrorize and control the Palestinian population.

This framing highlights the political and ethical complexities of detention and military operations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and challenges the narratives justifying these practices.

1. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/why-aren-t-palestinians-detain-0qoS_nFaSByH8uT59maMJA#3