Gershon Baskin, Middle East director of a human rights advocacy group, the International Communities Organisation, is a former Israeli hostage negotiator and has been speaking to his contacts in Hamas.
He told BBC Newshour that there are different groups involved in holding the hostages in Gaza and Hamas does not necessarily have full control of the situation and their welfare. Therefore, the key questions for anyone trying to negotiate and get the hostages back is: “Who is holding them? Who has the power to release them?”
