The current crisis is a “wake-up call” for both Israelis and Palestinians

The crisis in the Middle East should be a “wake-up call” for both Israelis and Palestinians, former Israeli hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin told CNN on Tuesday, as he called for a change in leadership on both sides.

Baskin played a major role in the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, from the Hamas movement, which imprisoned the soldier from 2006 to 2011. He is the author of the book “The Negotiator: Freeing Gilad Shalit from Hamas” and is now in communication with both the Israeli leadership and the movement. “Hamas” unofficially.

“It should come as a surprise to no one that we have reached such a horrific situation,”

Gershon Baskin told CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour.

He added:

“This should be a wake-up call for Israel, that you cannot keep another people occupied for 56 years and expect that they will enjoy peace. You cannot lock two million people in an open prison and expect calm to prevail there.”

He continued:

“For Palestinians, this should be a wake-up call that if you support extremist, fanatical leaders and refuse to acknowledge that other people living on your land have the same rights as you, then you will suffer for it.

Speaking from Jerusalem, Gershon Baskin said:

“These are the most shocking events for Israel and Palestine since 1948.”

“The people who brought us here, our leaders on both sides, must go,” Baskin added. “We need a new generation with a new vision, and I hope that trauma does not prevent us from looking forward.”

“Our history will never change,”

added Baskin, who is also the Middle East director for Communities International, a human rights advocacy group.

“It is our future that we have the opportunity to change.”

Baskin told CNN that Israel has a “moral responsibility” towards the hostages because it “failed to protect them,” and said:

“We have to understand that if there is a chance to free the hostages, everything must be done to make it happen.”

He continued:

“The primary function and responsibility of the state is to protect its citizens. Israel has failed to protect its citizens living along the Gaza border, and it has a moral responsibility to return them to the homeland.”

Regarding the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where fuel is quickly running out, Baskin suggested that the International Committee of the Red Cross, or Egyptian and Qatari officials, escort fuel trucks into Gaza to ensure they are not stolen by Hamas, and added:

“We need to solve this problem.” “So that we can release the hostages, cease fire, and stop the bombing.”

Click here to read the original Arabic Version of the interview

Originally Published in Arabic by CNN at https://arabic.cnn.com/middle-east/article/2023/10/25/middle-east-crisis-should-be-a-wake-up-call-for-israelis-and-palestinians-former-hostage-negotiator