Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday (Nov 21) asked his government to back a deal to secure the release of hostages held captive by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as he called it the “right decision”.
Speaking after presenting the undisclosed details of the deal to his war and national security cabinet, Netanyahu said that it was “a difficult decision but it’s a right decision”.
“Tonight, we face a difficult decision, but it is the right decision, all the security factors fully support it, they clarified in their full professional assessment that our security of our forces will be guaranteed during the days of ceasefire and that the intelligence effort will be maintained,” Netanyahu said.
He then said that US President Joe Biden had helped to “improve the framework being laid out before you… to include more hostages at a lower price”.
“The entire security establishment fully supports it.”
In an earlier briefing, chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari said: “The military will know how to maintain its military achievements in Gaza while preparing for the next stages of the war.”
‘We are at war, we will remain at war’, says Netanyahu
At the start of the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu, in a recorded message said that the war would continue until Israel achieved all its goals.
“Outside there is a lot of nonsense talk, as if after we cease (fire), for the release of the hostages, we will stop the war, so I would like to clarify, we are at war, and we will continue to fight, continue to fight until we reach all our goals,” the Israeli PM said.
“In war there are stages, and also in the returning of hostages there are stages, but we will not let go until we reach the absolute victory and until we bring them all back,” he added.
Hamas took nearly 240 hostages, including children and elderly people, during its assault against Israel, which claimed the lives of 1,200 people, as per Israel’s tally.
On the other hand, Gaza’s health ministry said that the counter-offensive launched by Israel killed nearly 13,300 Palestinians including at least 5,600 children.
A US official briefed on the discussions facilitated by Qatar said the deal would include 50 hostages, mostly women and children, in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and a pause in the fighting of four or five days.
(With inputs from agencies)
