RSS
Israel’s Defense Chief Says Only Way to Free Hostages Held by Hamas Is to Keep Up Military Pressure in Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meeting with IDF commanders, including members of the elite Shayetet 13 marine commando unit, in Atlit, Israel, Jan. 17, 2023. Photo: Ariel Hermoni (Israel’s Ministry of Defense)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that the only way to bring the hostages held in Gaza back home is to continue Israel’s war effort against the Hamas terror group, rejecting calls for a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.
“Regarding the hostages, we have no right to stop fighting as long as there are hostages in Gaza,” Gallant told Israeli soldiers. “The only way to bring them back is via military pressure, because Hamas only responds to the use of force.”
Gallant was speaking to Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 marine commando unit in the town of Atlit, where he was hosted by David Saar Salama, commander in chief of the Israeli Navy, as well as commanders in Shayetet 13.
“We will continue fighting until we achieve victory — until we defeat the Hamas terrorist organization — removing all of its significant military and governing capabilities in Gaza,” Gallant told the gathering.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, launched the current war with its surprise cross-border invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terror group murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 others as hostages. Mounting evidence has revealed the terrorists perpetrated mass atrocities against the Israeli people during their onslaught, including torture and systematic sexual violence.
Israel responded with a military campaign of air strikes and ground operations against Hamas in Gaza, with the goal of freeing all the hostages and incapacitating the terror group to the point that it can no longer pose a major threat to the Jewish state.
“In northern Gaza we are dismantling their [Hamas] capabilities, dismantling their battalion frameworks,” Gallant said. “This enables an IDF [Israel Defense Forces] brigade to maneuver from place to place — Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia. The same goes for areas in the center of the Gaza strip, and we will achieve this in Khan Younis as well.”
In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Gallant explained, “we operate in a different way. It’s a cross-stage effort [operations that take place in multiple phases of the war]. There, we focus on reaching Hamas’ leadership and on the hostage issue.”
Some 130 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza after about 100 were freed as part of a temporary Israel-Hamas truce in late November.
Israel has come under international pressure to stop its military campaign and accept a ceasefire, which critics argue would allow for a negotiated settlement to the hostage issue. Israeli leaders counter that a ceasefire would allow Hamas — whose leaders have promised to repeat its Oct. 7 massacre “again and again” — to regroup, arguing the Iran-backed Islamist terror group will only respond to strength.
“The end of this war — whenever it may be — will be based on our achievements,” Gallant said. “This will include destroying Hamas’ ability to operate with military and governing capabilities. We will maintain freedom of operation.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed similar sentiments on Wednesday.
“The war continues, and it will continue until the end, until we complete all our goals: the return of the abductees, the elimination of Hamas, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” he said during a visit to the Nabatim air force base in southern Israel. “Let there be no mistake: We will persist in the fight on land, at sea, and in the air until complete victory.”
The post Israel’s Defense Chief Says Only Way to Free Hostages Held by Hamas Is to Keep Up Military Pressure in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.