Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he hopes to announce return of all hostages during upcoming holiday, IDF will remain 'deep in Gaza.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening spoke to the media about Hamas' apparent agreement to release all hostages and discuss ending the war in Gaza. "My brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel, we are on the verge of a very great achievement," Netanyahu began. "It is not yet final; we are working on it diligently, and I hope, with G-d's help, that in the coming days, during the Sukkot holiday, I will be able to inform you about the return of all our hostages, both living and deceased, in one phase, while the IDF remains deep within the Strip and in the controlling areas within it."
"At the beginning of the war, a very senior security establishment official said: 'It is doubtful whether we can bring back even one living hostage.' Throughout the war, there were also those who claimed relentlessly that we could not receive all the hostages without a complete and full withdrawal from the Strip. I thought differently - and I acted differently.
"Thanks to the determined decisions I led together with the Government, and thanks to the bravery of our fighters who pressured Hamas, we have so far returned 207 of our hostages. But I have never given up on the remaining hostages. I have also never given up on achieving the other objectives of the war. As I said to the hostages when I addressed them directly from the UN podium: 'We have not forgotten you, not even for a moment.'" (Read More)
