Posted on 11/21/23
| News Source: JPost
Jerusalem, Israel - Nov. 21, 2023 -The government approved early Wednesday morning a partial hostage deal that includes a pause in the Gaza war in exchange for a release of up to 80 out of over 239 people seized by terrorists during Hamas’ infiltration of southern Israel on October 7.
“We have a difficult decision before us tonight, but it is a correct decision,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting.
Opponents of the deal warned that it will harm Israel’s ability to secure the release of all the hostages and complicate Israel’s military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza. They also warned that it will be difficult to resume the war once it has been temporarily halted.
Netanyahu dismissed those charges explaining that the IDF planned to resume the war once the deal was executed.
“I want to clarify. We are at war and will continue to be at war until we obtain all our objectives, to destroy Hamas and to return all our captives and missing persons,” he said.
“We will also ensure that there won’t be any entity in Gaza that will threaten Israel,” Netanyahu stated.
He recalled how he and the war cabinet had met with the families of the hostages the previous night.
"I told them that the return of the hostages is a sacred and primary mission that I swore to complete,” Netanyahu said.
“This war has phases and so does the return of the hostages,” he said.
The entire security establishment fully backs this deal, he said. This agreement will allow the IDF to better prepare for the rest of the war, Netanyahu said, adding that neither the lives of the soldiers nor the intelligence gathering apparatus would be harmed in that period.
Netanyahu said he had spoken with US President Joe Biden. As a result of that talk, Biden had intervened and secured better terms for the deal, Netanyahu explained.
The deal, mediated by Qatar, will create the first long-term pause in the fighting since Israel embarked on its military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza. It comes amid increased international pressure for a ceasefire.
Under the broad contours of the deal, 50 hostages will be released, within the first four days in exchange for a pause in the fighting during those 96 hours.
Some 40 children and 13 mothers are held hostage. The approved deal includes 30 children, eight mothers, and 12 other women.