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.”
