• THREE out of four letters in the March 14 CNJ put pressure on Israel to agree to a ceasefire, but made no mention of the hostages, let alone calling for their immediate release.

At the time of writing those still alive have been held in captivity for 164 days, and Hamas refuses to give details of who is still alive.

If Hamas was at all concerned with the wellbeing of the inhabitants of Gaza it would have released all the hostages and laid down its arms; but this would be incongruent for a group which has spent the last 16 years while in control of Gaza converting water pipes into rocket launchers and constructing a labyrinth of tunnels longer in mileage than the London Underground.

Its strategy was to commit an atrocity so horrific the Israelis would have to respond; and Hamas would be protected by the tunnel network minimising the risk to themselves while maximising it for their civilians. Hamas, in its reports of casualties, never mentions its own, which must make up a significant part of the total.

But for their restraint, the Israel Defense Forces could have taken out the whole of Gaza in one day.

Soon after October 7 the president of Egypt was reported as saying Gaza needs to be demilitarised, managed by outside forces so that the West Bank Palestinian authority can take over to get an overall two-state agreement.

After the Oslo Accords the framework for such a treaty has long been agreed in principle between Israel and Palestine Liberation Organisation negotiators, which covers the Old City and getting rid of the new Israeli settlements; but Yasser Arafat felt unable to conclude it.

This would mean mutual recognition of both states, already accepted by Egypt, Jordan, UAE and more or less by the PLO, but unlikely by Hamas.

It’s a tragedy the more moderate Arab countries did not make more efforts to use the three-week interval to get the hostages released and do what the Egyptian president advised.

JOHN BALL, NW1