\n<\/p>\n
As mediators pursue a deal that would free hostages from Gaza in exchange for a pause<\/a> in Israel\u2019s military campaign, a small group of relatives of Israeli hostages says that the government should keep waging war against Hamas \u2014 even if it prolongs their loved ones\u2019 captivity.<\/p>\n Family members of three hostages say that Israel should not agree to a deal with Hamas before the Israeli military has achieved its objectives in the war. They have formed a group, called Forum Tikva<\/a>, or \u201chope,\u201d to press their position.<\/p>\n That puts them at odds with the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum<\/a>, the main alliance of hostages\u2019 families, which has forcefully urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government to give priority to the captives\u2019 release.<\/p>\n One of Forum Tikva\u2019s founders is Tzvika Mor, whose son Eitan was working as a security guard at the Tribe of Nova music festival<\/a> on Oct. 7. Eitan became one of the roughly 240 civilians and soldiers Israel says were abducted to Gaza during the Hamas-led attack that day. Any negotiation with Hamas, Mr. Mor said, should come from a position of strength.<\/p>\n \u201cI want my son back now, but I want the Israeli government to make a good deal for all the people of Israel, not only for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His comments are a reflection of the emotionally charged debate in Israel around the fate of the hostages as the war in Gaza enters its fifth month. At least 30 of the roughly 136 remaining hostages captured Oct. 7 are believed to be dead<\/a>, according to an Israeli intelligence assessment. As hostages\u2019 families mount more aggressive protests<\/a> to demand that Israel secure their release, a rift has deepened among Israelis about the cost the country is willing to absorb to have the remaining captives brought home.<\/p>\n Mr. Mor said that Israel should not agree to any deal with Hamas that would involve the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners he sees as dangerous, such as those convicted of involvement in attacks that killed Israelis. During a weeklong cease-fire in November, about 100 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israel, most of whom were young and had not been convicted of crimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hamas delivered a plan this week to Qatari and Egyptian mediators that called for Israel to withdraw from Gaza, abide by a long-term cease-fire and exchange hostages for Palestinians detained in Israel. Mr. Netanyahu dismissed the Hamas offer as \u201cludicrous\u201d<\/a> on Wednesday and signaled that Israel would keep fighting in Gaza, saying that victory was \u201cwithin reach.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Mor said that he and other members of Forum Tikva were willing to accept that their loved ones would remain captive longer if Israel did not make a deal soon.<\/p>\n \u201cLike any other son who went to war, my son knows he might not come back,\u201d Mr. Mor said. \u201cBut he\u2019s doing that to save the nation of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n