Former United States Director of Policy Planning and veteran Middle East diplomat for the United States of America Dennis Ross spoke at a rally for the families of the hostages on Saturday night.
"I've been in Israel for the last few weeks, and everywhere I've gone I've seen the pictures," he said. "It shows the country feels this, and is tied to the families, but it shows something else - everywhere I go and see the pictures, it reminds us that these are not abstractions. These are not faceless people. These are real people, with hopes, with dreams, with fears, with a soul, and they are connected to their families."
"For the families, life has been frozen since October 7th. What they are going through is indescribable. What they feel is the need to see them returned home now, but they also feel the need to know that they are not alone. The reason we are here tonight, that I am here tonight, is to show that they are not alone.
"I wish I could say to you that I have a magic solution. I don't. But I know something about this area, about Hamas, about Sinwar - they will not be induced to release the hostages. There will have to be pressure put upon them, and it will have to be military pressure. One of the reasons that Qatar is once again talking about a deal is that military pressure is put upon them. Hamas wants a reprieve. That means there is a dimension of military pressure being put upon them, and that opens the possibility of a deal."
"That's not the whole story. There are other forms of pressure that must be put on Hamas. It may seem hard to believe that Hamas cares about its public image. It wants the focus to be on the death and destruction in Gaza. We collectively have to make it clear that the focus is on the hostages."
Ross paused briefly as the crowd burst into chants of, "Free them now!"
"There is a need for urgency," Ross continued. "It's been almost three months, and we know what the conditions are. When I say there is a need for pressure, it's not just military and not just how we publicly talk about it. There also needs to be political and psychological pressure. One thing that needs to be done is that we need to reach out to Imams and have Imams declare that kidnapping people anywhere between ten months and eighty years and holding them hostage for three months is not Islamic. Hamas is an Islamic resistance movement - we need to demonstrate, and they need to hear, that Hamas is not Islamic. That's one form of pressure."
"There's another form of pressure. We need to be reaching out to the leaders of countries that have supported the Palestinian people. Even if they are critical of Israel, they need to say that Hamas is damaging the Palestinian cause by holding the hostages, and needs to release them now.
"There is a third thing that needs to be done. Countries that have relations with Hamas need to use their leverage. Qatar, right now, is trying to negotiate a deal. That's good, but Qatar cannot simply be a messenger or mediator. Qatar wants to show that it has that relationship - it has to put pressure on Hamas. Hamas must know that if it does not respond to Qatar, it risks its relationship with Qatar. All the political leaders of Hamas who are in Qatar need to know that they won't be able to stay. The money that goes there - they need to know that it's going to be lost. Qatar can apply pressure and it has to."
Ross concluded, "There is something else, and all of you embody it - the voice. Your voice has to be heard in this country. Your voice represents the conscience of Israel. Your voice can provoke the conscience of the world. The world's conscience has to be involved if there is going to be pressure on Hamas to release them now. All of us together have to pledge our commitment to do whatever we can to ensure they all come home."