Gershon Baskin: Time is running out, we need to get as many hostages out
Gershon Baskin, who negotiated a 2011 Hamas prisoner swap, on the need for Israel and other nations in the region to work out a deal to release hostages
Gershon Baskin, who negotiated a 2011 prisoner swap to release an Israeli soldier from Hamas, urged that "time is running out" to rescue hostages who were taken in the Oct. 7 terror attack.
Baskin joined "FOX & Friends" on Wednesday to emphasize the need for Israel to make a deal in order to safely rescue hostages before the war escalates.
"Time is running out, the clock is ticking. The window of opportunity is going to close once the Israeli ground incursion begins. And we need to do everything possible to get as many of the hostages out, especially women, children, elderly and sick people," he said.
This undated photo provided by Rachel Goldberg shows her son Hersh Goldberg-Polin, left, with his father Jon Polin. The 23-year-old from Jerusalem was last seen when Hamas militants loaded him into the back of a pickup truck with other hostages abducted from a music festival in the western Negev Desert on Oct. 7. (Rachel Goldberg via AP)
President Biden, speaking in Israel on Wednesday, said, "There's no higher priority than the release and safe return of all these hostages" captured by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
"Later this week, I'm going to ask the United States Congress for an unprecedented support package for Israel's defense. We're going to keep Iron Dome fully supplied to continue standing sentinel over Israeli skies, saving lives," Biden also said.
"We move U.S. military assets to the region, including positioning the USS Ford carrier strike group in the eastern Mediterranean with the USS Eisenhower on the way to deter further aggression against Israel and to prevent this conflict from spreading."
Speaking about efforts to rescue hostages, Biden said, "To those who are living in limbo, waiting desperately to learn the fate of a loved one, especially to families of the hostages — you're not alone. We're working with partners throughout the region, pursuing every avenue to bring home those who are being held captive by Hamas."
Baskin said, "There is a chance for a small negotiated deal to be made with a relatively low payment by Israel in releasing women and minor prisoners from Israel."
Baskin added this would be a small portion of people from the West Bank, "none from Gaza" or "convicted of murdering Israelis."
"So at least we can get that done before Israel enters Gaza to root out all of the Hamas leadership," he said.
Baskin, who is consulting officials on the ongoing hostage crisis, explained how other nearby nations can help with efforts to release hostages.
"There is effective pressure that can be applied on Qatar to tell the Hamas leadership that if they don't release hostages within 24 hours, the leadership of Hamas should be expelled from Qatar," he said.
Baskin also mentioned Turkey, which is a member of NATO, saying, "Turkey can be influenced by the United States and other NATO allies to apply real pressure on Turkey to force Hamas to release prisoners."
Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, a former Hamas hostage, and Gershon Baskin in 2012. (Fox News )
Baskin is the co-founder and former co-director of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information and became an unofficial intermediary between Hamas and Israel representatives.
Baskin helped secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped in 2006 in a cross-border raid and held for more than five years by Hamas.
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FOX News' Greg Norman contributed to this report.
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