Someone’s argument above stated that Israel was not going to stop even if all hostages are released. Now you are saying that hostages are a real need for a peace deal. It almost seems like someone is running out of reasons to keep them.

We could also argue if a peace deal (aka keeping the hostages) will be worth all the victims. Or we could just admit that the only way hamas is ever going to use hostages is to try to keep themselves alive.