Gaza strikes ‘endangering stability of entire region’, says former hostage negotiator

In his televised statement tonight, Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was doing everything possible to secure the return of more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas.

Earlier the Qatari prime minister said he was hoping for a breakthrough in negotiations to free some of those held captive.

For the families hoping for news of their loved ones, it’s an incredibly agonising wait.

Matt Frei, the Europe Editor and Presenter at Channel 4 News spoke with Gershon Baskin, the negotiator who helped secure the release of an Israeli soldier who was held hostage by Hamas for five years.

We asked him whether the fate of the hostages was holding back Israel’s decision to go ahead with a ground offensive?

Click here to watch the interview

Categories: InterviewsVideo

Matt Frei

Matt Frei is Europe Editor and Presenter at Channel 4 News. This year he has led the Channel 4 News coverage of events in Ukraine from the crash site of Malaysia flight MH17, to the tensions in Crimea and reported live from Independence Square on Kiev’s bloodiest day. He has also secured major interviews with Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Aung San Suu Kyi. Prior to his appointment as Europe Editor for Channel 4 News, Frei was the Washington Correspondent for two years and has reported on the Americas on everything from business and culture to US foreign policy and its view of the world. He is also part of the presenting team across Channel 4's news and current affairs portfolio, including the award-winning Dispatches programme. Matt previously anchored the BBC World News America bulletin and was also Washington Correspondent. He presented a weekly radio show called Americana, and in two decades at the corporation reported from Bonn, Rome, Bosnia, Kosovo, North Africa, Hong Kong and Singapore. He is the author of two books: Italy: The Unfinished Revolution published in 1996 by Random House and Mandarin books and Only In America published in 2008 by 4th Estate.