bargaining chip

He called for "more crossings open and a genuine, practical, problem-solving approach to removing remaining obstacles" and said "withholding aid from civilians is not a bargaining chip".

Given the corpses’ value to the terrorists as bargaining chips, the claim that they need more time to find and retrieve them is hard to credit.

“Both sides are increasing their bargaining chips,” he said.

His captors, who need him alive as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the Israeli government, fear that local civilians would lynch an Israeli if they saw one.

But the hostages are the group's only bargaining chip - and it's unclear whether it would be willing to release them before other elements of the deal are finalised.