Bezalel Smotrich calls deal with Hamas ‘collective suicide’ as PM grapples with fallout from Benny Gantz resignation
The prospect of a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas appears to be rapidly receding after the far-right Israeli cabinet member Bezalel Smotrich – on whomSmotrich’s comments, during a Knesset committee meeting, came amid the fallout from the resignation of the former army chief of staff Benny Gantz from the war cabinet.
Analysts and commentators were quick to point out that the possibility of replicating such an operation for the remaining 120 hostages, at least 40 of whom are believed to be dead, were slim as captives would be guarded more closely, making a negotiated deal even more crucial. In further signs of tensions within the coalition, the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, announced he planned to defy Netanyahu and oppose a controversial bill to draft a small number of ultra-Orthodox men into the military.
The Israeli army’s spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, acknowledged the limits of military force. “What will bring most of the hostages back home alive is a deal,” he told reporters. “Second, we have another 120 hostages that have to come home. I believe most of them won’t come home in a special operation and we need a deal to bring them home. The dead for burying and the living for recovery. And I think the struggle will continue, and personally, I will be there. Even though Almog came back, personally, I will continue.”
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