I say this, since the Western news media seems to have stopped pretending to care about a pretence of neutrality and bringing up human shields and the "savage Islamic radical hordes" again...
Idc if it's IDF soldiers and political figures they're only capturing, but it seems to also include settler civilians, specifically some women, others elderly, and a few youths (may or may not be teens).
It's an unknown amount, but it seems like a lot more than some dozens
What the hell do they need them for? As a bargaining chip?
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dna-prayers-israelis-desperate-word-missing-kin-hamas-attack-2023-10-08/
Edit 1: What if they left the collaborator settler "civilians" alone, but kept the important political and military figures with them
Edit 2: On second thoughts, the settlers can seem to be indirectly, if not fully committed to this settler-colonial project, considering by the presence of paramilitaries and settling alone...
Not every passenger on the Mayflower held a musket or sliced an Indian's scalp either. Not every antebellum plantation family member tortured their slaves. And I'm sure not every Nazi personally shot a Jew. Yet, I don't feel bad when they got what was coming to them.
Wait, on sec. thoughts, I kinda changed my mind when I realized that most of the adult civillians, when I realized they most likely had military training to become a citizen in it...
Still unsure why a few of the under-18 year olds are part of the hostages...