When will Israel free the Palestinians it is holding hostage? | Arwa Mahdawi

Civilians Hamas captured on 7 October are obviously hostages. What about thousands of Palestinians sitting in Israeli jails?

If you want to understand the complicated situation in the Middle East, you need to start with two basic sets of facts, which are the foundation for everything else.

The first is that Israelis are civilized people, just like westerners. You should believe whatever the Israeli government says, because they are obviously not going to lie. If an Israeli soldier or settler commits a terrible act, they're not considered a reflection on the state as a whole; they're a bad apple who will be held accountable. Even if the data shows they are rarely held accountable. The bottom line: Israelis are good people who want peace; any violence they commit is justified because they have an absolute right to self-defense.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian US columnist