Hamas ‘keeping hand on trigger,’ to name 10 hostages set for release on Friday • Ceasefire won’t apply to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
The Mossad has been instructed to act against Hamas leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Wednesday night as he defended a partial hostage deal that includes a four to nine-day pause in the Gaza war.
“It was a hard decision, but the right decision,” Netanyahu said.
“I instructed the Mossad to act against Hamas leaders where they are,” Netanyahu said as he hinted that Israel could target them outside of Gaza, including in Qatar.
He spoke as Mossad chief David Barnea was reportedly in Qatar, a country that – along with Egypt – had mediated the agreement by which 50 to 98 out of the over 239 hostages held in Gaza since October 7 would be freed.
Hamas hostage deal
Hamas had seized the hostages when it infiltrated southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people. Israel has since conducted a military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza.
The government on Wednesday agreed to pause that war to allow for a phased hostage deal.
Since the deal was reached Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged to continue the war.
“The war continues, we will continue it until we achieve all our objectives,” he said. This includes freeing all the captives, eliminating Hamas, and ensuring that the day after Hamas there won’t be an entity that supports or educates for terror.
“Gaza won’t pose a threat to Israel,” he said, adding “We will continue to fight until there is complete victory.”
Netanyahu also promised that all the hostages would be released, including the two Israeli captives Hamas has held since 2014 and 2015 — Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. He also referenced the two soldiers believed killed in the 2014 Gaza war Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.
“We will return everyone home. And when I say everyone I mean everyone,” he said.
Netanyahu thanked US President Joe Biden for his efforts to secure and expand the deal, which was mediated by Qatar with Egypt’s help, even as he took credit for Biden’s increased involvement.
“We conducted tough negotiations. We fought to improve the outline. I now spoke with President Biden again, I thanked him for acting at my request with the mediators to achieve a significant improvement of the outline, and such an improvement was indeed achieved.”
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