Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar gave a briefing to dozens of foreign journalists at the Foreign Ministry offices in Jerusalem today (Sunday), following the government's approval of the hostage deal.
First, Sa'ar took note of what he claimed was Hamas perfidy in implementing its side of the deal: "In the last 24 hours, we saw another example of the nature of the enemy we are facing. According to the framework, Hamas was supposed to provide the names of the first released hostages yesterday at 16:00. They didn't do this and violated the framework before it even began. This also happened in previous agreements where there were repeated violations. This is a continuation of the abuse of the hostages and their families."
He then conceded that the deal contains a great deal of risk: "The framework for releasing the hostages includes heavy prices for Israel. Releasing terrorists from prisons is a heavy price that involves risks. I don't dismiss the claims of those who oppose the framework. We went ahead with the framework out of commitment to our brothers and sisters who have been in captivity for over 15 months. One of the war's objectives is the release of our hostages, and we are committed to this."
The Foreign Minister then directly refuted claims that the deal could have been secured months ago on the terms laid out by President Biden: "We haven't changed our positions throughout the negotiations. The reason we've now reached this framework is Israel's major achievements during the war that have changed the regional reality. Not only do we say that Hamas wasn't ready to make a deal for releasing hostages before, but Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan have explicitly stated this as well."
Sa'ar then went on to thank Biden and Trump for their help: "I want to thank our American friends, from both the incoming and outgoing administration, for their extensive efforts over the recent weeks that contributed to achieving the framework for releasing the hostages."
He ended by reiterating the Israeli government's commitment to all war aims, including destroying Hamas as a threat and governing party: "Israel is committed to achieving all the war objectives decided by the security cabinet. This includes the return of all our hostages, the destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities, and ensuring that the Gaza Strip will no longer be a threat to the State of Israel and its citizens."
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