Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said tonight that Israel will agree to a continuation of the ceasefire in Gaza under one condition.

Netanyahu wants ten hostages released for every day there is a ceasefire:

I don’t know how many hostages Hamas still has in Gaza but I’d guess it to be somewhere near 200 still. Ten hostages a day would put a small dent it that number but it would take nearly three weeks to get them all back.

And that’s assuming Hamas would give them all back, which I highly doubt. Hostages are the biggest leverage they have and while they will let some go, they’ll keep a good number hidden in Gaza to try and keep pressure on Israel and the west. Hamas wants to stay alive. If Hamas were to give them all up, Israel would just continue their campaign to exterminate Hamas.

As bad as it sounds, at the end of the day I think Israel is just going to have to count some of these hostages as lost and continue with their military campaign to end Hamas.