イスラエルの実業家ら、人質解放目指し報奨金提供へ

【エルサレムＡＦＰ＝時事】パレスチナ自治区ガザでの停戦の行方が見通せない中、イスラエルの実業家らがガザで捕らわれている人質の解放に向け報奨金の提供を表明するなど、新たな動きが出始めている。（写真は資料写真）
　炭酸水製造器メーカー、ソーダストリームのダニエル・バーンバウム前最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）は、「ガザから生きているイスラエル人の人質を連れてきた者」に１０万ドル（約１５００万円）の報奨金を提供すると表明した。バーンバウム氏は２１日、ＡＦＰに対し、これまでに約１００本の電話があったと話した。
　バーンバウム氏は、ほとんどの電話がいたずらや脅迫、罵倒だったが、「１０～２０本は信ぴょう性があるかもしれない」とし、確認のため当局に転送したと語った。情報提供は２３日深夜まで受け付けるという。
　バーンバウム氏のアイデアを耳にしたイスラエル系米国人の不動産開発業者、デービッド・ヘイガー氏も、人質解放に役立てるため資金集めを始めた。
　ヘイガー氏は２０日、イスラエルのテレビ局チャンネル１２に、友人の助けを借りてすでに約４０万ドル（約６０００万円）を集めたと語った。それぞれが１０万ドルを提供してくれたとし、目標金額は１０００万ドル（約１５億円）だと話した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/10/22-18:38）

Frustrated with the dwindling prospect of reaching a ceasefire deal in the year-long Gaza war, some Israeli entrepreneurs have sought a different avenue to release hostages -- offering a financial reward for those who choose to free them.
Former SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum told AFP Monday he had received around 100 calls after announcing on social media platform X that he would give $100,000 in cash or bitcoin to anyone who delivers from Gaza a living Israeli prisoner.
The former chairman of the Israel-based soda company added that his offer was valid until midnight Wednesday.
Birnbaum said most of the calls are pranks, threats or curses, but 10 to 20 could be legitimate and were transferred to Israeli authorities for further verification.
He said the people who called him were more concerned with getting out (of Gaza) than with the money.
With so many hostages, Birnbaum said, some civilians unaffiliated to Hamas must have information on the captives' whereabouts.
There might be civilians who think enough is enough and they want to live, he said.
Militants took 251 people hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack orchestrated by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Of those, 97 still remain held in Gaza, including 34 who Israeli officials say are dead.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has so far killed at least 42,603 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers reliable.
I'm not expecting to get everyone back (but) I'd be delighted if we got back just one hostage, Birnbaum said.
He said he didn't ask for permission from the Israeli government.
I think the element of a financial reward should come from the private sector, let's see if it works. Whatever we have been doing until now, its not working, he added.
- Flyers -
Upon hearing of Birnbaum's initiative, Israeli-American real estate developer David Hager also began raising money.
He told Israel's Channel 12 on Sunday that he had already gathered some $400,000 with help from friends.
Each of them offered in $100,000, he said, calling on to other businessmen to contribute in order to reach $10 million.
Hager, who made his fortune in the United States, said there are IT guys here who have made huge sums, and this is small money for them.
Following the recent death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Palestinians who laid down their weapons and brought back captives would live.
Flyers dropped above Gaza by the Israeli army in the following days also guaranteed that whoever lays down their arms and returns the hostages will be able to leave (Gaza)... in peace.
The Israeli army has been air dropping thousands of such flyers since the beginning of the war, asking for information about hostages.
But these calls have little chances of success, Palestinian affairs expert Michael Milshtein of Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center told AFP.
There could be one, two, or three cases, but we're not going to see roads full of people ready to accept this offer, he said.
Muhammad al-Najjar, a resident of northern Gaza who fled to the southern city of Khan Yunis to escape an ongoing Israeli military operation, told AFP that such offers from the Israeli army were bound to fail.
As a people, we don't pay attention to anything the (Israeli army) publishes or distributes, he said, adding that some people use the flyers as kindle for fires in the shortage-stricken coastal territory.
Najjar, 33, said he believes that Hamas will not agree to release the hostages without something in return and pointed to the necessity of a negotiated ceasefire deal to guarantee that the captives are freed.
During a one-week truce in November last year, 105 hostages were released, among them 80 Israelis in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
All attempts to reach a new ceasefire have failed since, with both sides trading blame for stalling talks.