Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Discusses War with Hamas and Hostage Deal
Tel Aviv [Israel], June 24: Amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that the nation is prepared to pause the fight in exchange for a partial deal to return hostages in Gaza. However, he emphasized that the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed.
Netanyahu mentioned that as Israel prepares for a potential all-out war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has increased its cross-border strikes, the intense battle phase in the Gaza Strip is winding down. This was Netanyahu’s first interview with a Hebrew media outlet since Hamas’s terror attack on October 7, and he spoke on Channel 14.
When asked if Israel was ready for an agreement with Hamas, Netanyahu said, “No. I’m not prepared to end the war and leave Hamas standing. I am prepared to do a partial deal; that’s no secret, that would return some of the people to us.” He added, “But we are obligated to continue the fighting after a pause to complete our goal of destroying Hamas. I’m not prepared to give up on that.”
MK Gadi Eisenkot, a former observer of the war cabinet, stated that Netanyahu’s remarks contradicted the war cabinet’s choices. Eisenkot mentioned that the war cabinet had a unanimous consensus on either a thorough deal in three stages or a full deal all at once, making Netanyahu’s claim of a “partial deal” conflicting with their conclusions. Eisenkot, along with Benny Gantz, resigned from the government two weeks ago and expressed that Netanyahu’s comments had “emotionally disturbed” the families of the hostages and “critically damaged Israel’s resilience.”
The conflict in Gaza escalated after the October 7 attack by Hamas, where about 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to casualties and the seizure of hostages. Israel has characterized its Gaza offensive as targeting Hamas’ infrastructure with the goal of eliminating the entire terror group while making efforts to minimize civilian casualties.
