Gideon Sa'ar: If we continued to wait on negotiations, nothing would happen

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar explained today (Tuesday) why Israel decided to stop holding its fire against Hamas despite ongoing negotiations.

Here is the full statement:

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar participated a short time ago in the "Nevatim" conference for the development of the Negev and said: "In the last two and a half weeks, we have reached a deadlock where there is no fire and also no return of the hostages, and Israel cannot accept this. Sincere efforts were made to advance toward a framework; President Trump’s envoy, Witkoff, proposed two different offers, and Hamas rejected both of them."

He further stated: "If we had continued waiting, the situation would have remained stagnant. This strongly reminded me of the first 20 days after October 7, until the ground entry into the Gaza Strip, when there was hope that perhaps Hamas would come to a deal. As long as we didn’t apply force, nothing happened. Hamas will not bring the State of Israel to its knees. It won’t happen and it won’t be."

Minister Sa'ar added: "Returning to fighting is a continuation of our commitment to achieving the war’s objectives. The goals of the war remain the same goals."