Former Israeli security minister Yoav Gallant stated that "Israel would make a mistake if it returns to fighting to destroy Hamas before bringing back the Israeli prisoners."
اضافة اعلان
In remarks made on Tuesday during his first public appearance in the United States, Gallant addressed the second phase of the exchange deal, mentioning that "there is an order to return the prisoners in order to achieve the goals of the war."
He continued, "But if we eliminate Hamas before returning the prisoners, we won't have any prisoners left to bring back."
Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that "Israel is not immediately returning to fighting in the Gaza Strip," speaking about the possibility of going back to war and saying, "We may need to do so."
Yesterday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz noted in its editorial that "the contacts for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza were supposed to begin on the 16th day of the first phase. However, the first phase ended without these contacts ever happening, leaving 59 prisoners in Gaza."
The newspaper pointed out that "the way to bring them back is not by extending the first phase or starving the population in Gaza, including the prisoners, but by progressing to the second phase, which involves ending the war and withdrawing from Gaza, as stipulated in the agreement."
Al-Mayadeen
