Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Minister Benny Gantz held a press conference the day after the approval of the deal exchanging hostages for terrorists with Hamas. Before the press conference, Netanyahu spoke with American President Joe Biden and thanked him for helping them reach the hostage deal.
Netanyahu: “I would like to speak to the families of the hostages, our brothers and sisters. Last night, I convened the Government in order to approve the first stage of the outline for returning the hostages. Since the start of the war, I have not stopped thinking about you, the families.”
”I have met with you and have heard from you what you are enduring. I have heard from you about the continuing nightmare, the tribulations of uncertainty, the endless worrying. When I meet with you, you put the photos of your loved ones on your chests, on your hearts, and I and my colleagues see all the photos; they are a call to action.”
“Since the outbreak of the war, we have indeed been working relentlessly to bring them all back home. And when I say all of them – I mean all of them, including Oron, Hadar, Avra and Hisham.”
Netanyahu: “What paved the way was massive military pressure”
“What paved the way to the current outline is the combination of two main efforts. The first effort, is the massive, relentless military pressure that we are using against Hamas…The second effort is the great diplomatic pressure that we are using for the release of our hostages. We conducted difficult negotiations; we fought to improve the outline. I have just spoken again with President Biden and thanked him for acting, as per my request, with the intermediaries to significantly improve the outline; such an improvement has been achieved.”
“The outline that has been achieved does not include the release of murderers. It does include visits by Red Cross representatives to the hostages and the delivery of medicines to them. I heard that there is someone denying this. The Red Cross says that it has not heard; then here is the explicit clause: 'The Red Cross will be allowed to visit the remaining hostages and provide them with needed medicine.' I expect the Red Cross to do its work.”
“The effort to bring all of them home is ongoing…But military operations are not always possible. Therefore, we are not waiting. We are utilizing every sliver of opportunity to release our hostages because returning them is a sacred task…The IDF and all of the security services fully support the outline. They reiterated at yesterday's Government meeting that the security of our forces will be assured during the days of the pause and that the intelligence effort will be maintained during these days. And the IDF will, at this time, be preparing for the continuation of the war…The war is continuing.”
"We will continue until we achieve all of our goals: Return all of the hostages, eliminate Hamas and ensure that on the day after Hamas, no element that supports terrorism, educates its children for terrorism, and pays terrorists or their families, will control Gaza. Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel. We will restore security in both the south and the north. We are winning and will continue to fight until absolute victory…Together we will fight and with G-d's help, together we will win.”
Netanyahu added that “I am sure Sinwar will try to drag it out but we will do what we said we will do. I hope there will be more than fifty released but we cannot commit to it.” Regarding the Red Cross: “This was agreed to by the other side, and therefore I expect them to operate according to this agreement. There might be a difficulty because the other side won’t do it. It cannot be that the Red Cross will deny this. It’s supposed to happen the moment the agreement is carried out.” The Prime Minister added that “I instructed the Mossad to act against Hamas leaders.”
Srugim/JFeed’s question: “Yemen declared war, it is firing rockets, and sending drones towards the south of the country, and this week also hijacked a ship. Israel responds to every security incident, in Lebanon and Syria. Why is there no security response towards Yemen?”
Netanyahu: “We are preparing to respond to every attack on us, we pay attention and our enemies need to pay attention to that.”
Gallant: “Hamas are human animals who only understand force”
Defense Minister Gallant: “On October seventh, Hamas started a criminal war and thus sealed the fate of Gaza and its fate. We have a dual mission: the first mission is to destroy Hamas’ capabilities, and we are progressing with this every day. The second thing is that the greater the maneuver, the better a deal we can get. They are human animals, they are loathsome murderers but force they understand. Every step IDF forces take in advancing improves the odds of bringing the hostages to their home.”
“The decision taken by the government is to continue the war in order to realize its goals, to return the hostages, and eliminate Hamas with all of its offshoots in the Gaza Strip. There is difficulty and happiness mixed with each other. Agony and a sense of relief. We are committed to bring those who weren’t released home.”
“Everything that has to do with releasing hostages has weighty moral considerations. My judgment is according to values perimeters. We endanger soldiers only for worth causes, I am willing to take risks to free hostages. I have the moral strength to do this. I haven’t yet sent soldiers to a more dangerous place than I was in.”
The Defense Minister added: “You can tell Haniyeh and Mashal that they are living on borrowed time.”
Gantz: “Those who oppose the deal are also part of the people”
Gantz: “Yesterday, we made a difficult, and correct, decision. A decision that contains responsibility for determining fates and which saves human lives. Honestly, this was one of the hardest decisions I took in over 40 years in which I have served the state but I am convinced it is the right decision. In my eyes, this decision, and the concern for the hostages, is a show of the power of Israeli society. From tomorrow we will meet, support, and do everything we need and can, so your loved ones will come back. I stress: We are not coming back until we get it done. We will go back and we will get it done.”
“We know the other side is looking and testing us, that they will try to ‘buy time.’ And I tell Sinwar and the Hamas leadership a sentence taught to me my Maj.-Gen. (res.) Poli Mordechai – ‘Nichna sha’ab sabur.’ We are a people with a great deal of patience. We don’t just look at reality in days, we look at the eternity of Israel. I am determined to continue the war – we are all determined to win. Some think that the pause and the deal are incorrect, I respect their view. There is no simple choice here between good and bad. Even those who think we were wrong is part of this people, and we will all take care to remain united and to win.”
"We face days of pause in the south, and are also observing other sectors. Hezbollah, which lost many of its people, and led to the flight of tens of thousands of Lebanese from their homes, need to know that what’s happening right now in north Gaza – can also happen in southern Lebanon. We are aware of Iran’s efforts to challenge us. We will know to act against the senders and the messengers. No harm to Israeli sovereignty will be left without a response. We face complex days, against cruel enemies. We will pass these days with mutual solidarity, we will get past them and we will win together. We will continue to build and develop our only, beloved country.”
On disputes within the cabinet, he said: “This isn’t a reality show, it’s not relevant, these are matters of human life, I will bear responsibility for what the cabinet does with my agreement and without my agreement.”