Report: PM says Israel should be upfront about plan to resume war after hostage deal

Report: Alarming hostage negotiators, PM says Israel should be upfront about plan to resume war after deal

During a high-level meeting last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told those present that Israel will resume fighting after a hostage deal, if one comes about, Channel 12 reports.

“If there is a deal — and I hope there will be — Israel will return to fighting afterward. There is no point in pretending otherwise because returning to fighting is needed in order to complete the goals of the war. Saying this does not thwart a deal, it encourages a deal,” Channel 12 quotes Netanyahu as having said.

The remarks sparked further concern among members of the hostage negotiating team present, who feel that such assertions — especially when made public — have made it more difficult for them to secure a deal, given that Hamas has insisted on a permanent ceasefire in exchange for the hostages, the network says.

Netanyahu has pushed for a temporary ceasefire deal that only sees around one-third of the remaining 100 hostages released. Hamas has indicated some flexibility in recent weeks but is seeking assurances from mediators that the first phase of the agreement will lead to the second and third phases.

The quote attributed to Netanyahu by Channel 12 was very similar to one attributed to an unnamed senior Israeli official who told the Ynet news site earlier Monday, “Even if Israel agrees to a deal, it will resume fighting afterward in order to complete the goals of the war.”

The senior official was responding to an earlier report in the Ynet news site that cited senior members of the security establishment warning that Netanyahu’s refusal to plan for the post-war management of Gaza will lead to a scenario where Hamas will fully regain control over Gaza as it had before the outbreak of the ongoing war sparked by the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.

The security establishment has long urged Netanyahu to advance a viable alternative to Hamas and has argued in favor of allowing the Palestinian Authority to gain a foothold in Gaza.

Netanyahu has rejected the proposal outright, likening the PA — which backs a two-state solution — to Hamas.

For the past several months, he has stressed how he has directed the security establishment to come up with a plan to strip Hamas of its control over the humanitarian aid, which has served as one of its final lifelines of control over governing affairs in the Strip. But the premier-directed effort has gone nowhere, given the refusal to work with the PA, a security official told Ynet, adding that initiatives to have foreign security contractors be tasked with guarding aid convoys have also fallen flat since there is no one to fund them.

Israeli officials backing the idea had hoped countries like the United Arab Emirates would bankroll the security contractors, but Abu Dhabi has made clear repeatedly that it won’t assist in the post-war management of Gaza absent the involvement of a reformed PA and an Israeli-approved pathway to a two-state solution.

The Israeli security official speaking to Ynet said that the political echelon’s failure to advance a viable alternative to Hamas is leading to the gradual roll-back of military gains made by the IDF in Gaza.