Hamas has indicated it is currently unable to identify and track down 40 Israeli hostages needed for the first phase of a ceasefire deal, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions, raising fears that more hostages may be dead than are publicly known.
    • TheFonz@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      8 months ago

      You only addressed half the statement. They are not saying that Israel doesn’t take civilian hostages. They are questioning the claim that Hamas doesn’t take civilian hostages. Follow the thread please.

      • aleph@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        8 months ago

        Is there any evidence that Hamas has taken new hostages since October 7th? Because AFAIK there isn’t.

        • TheFonz@lemmy.worldEnglish
          7·
          8 months ago

          A temporal attribute has not been included in this statement:

          Hamas just hasn’t been taking civilian noncombatants as hostages like Israel has been doing.

          But you have added a temporal qualifier:

          taken new hostages since October 7th

          I think maybe that’s where the disconnect is? I don’t know. I don’t know who or what you’re arguing against.

          • aleph@lemm.eeEnglish
            3·
            8 months ago

            The temporal qualifier is inherent in the grammar of the statement. Perhaps you didn’t notice it?

            In English, the present perfect continuous has/hasn’t been taking implies a frequent and repeated action since a fixed time in the past - in this case, presumably, the start of the current conflict until now.

            Since Hamas only took civilian hostages on one occasion, i.e. October 7th, and not again since, it is not true to say that Hamas “has been taking hostages”. They took hostages. Once.

            Israel, on the other hand, have been taking Palestinian civilians captive, repeatedly, since October 7th. That’s the difference.

            • TheFonz@lemmy.worldEnglish
              3·
              8 months ago

              You’re inferring the start point for the perfect continuous and assigning Oct 7; I’m assigning the start point to be the overall conflict in a broader context. I’m being charitable. I might be wrong, but I can’t read OPs mind so I’m being charitable.

              • aleph@lemm.eeEnglish
                2·
                8 months ago

                In that case, they would have used the present simple, “Hamas don’t take hostages”, but they didn’t.

                I think you simply misunderstood the original statement.