Netanyahu tells captives’ families he will approve any release deal, even if govt collapses

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the families of the captives held by the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip that he would approve a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas as long as it does not harm Israel’s security. He added that he would approve it “even if it leads to the collapse of the government,” according to Channel 12.

The Israeli channel explained that Netanyahu met with representatives of 18 of the captives’ families on Wednesday evening, in a tense meeting in which he promised to promote the deal with Hamas to release the detainees. Although this would be regardless of his coalition government considerations, it cannot be “at any price.”

The families demanded that Netanyahu should accept the deal even at the expense of dissolving his coalition, to which he replied: “If there is a good agreement for the State of Israel, for the return of the hostages, and achieving the goals of the war, then I will do that. I do not care about the continuation of the coalition, but if I believe it puts the security of Israel is at risk or does not achieve the goals we want, I will not do it.”

Moreover, the families requested that the deal should not be in stages like the previous agreement. The channel explained that the prime minister did not go into details, but said that “the return of the hostages must take place in stages within a deal.”

The hostage issue be placed at the top of the list of priorities in light of the time already wasted, insisted the families. In response, Netanyahu referred to the three goals of the war: dismantling Hamas, returning the hostages, and disarming the Gaza Strip. “You cannot achieve one goal at the expense of damaging other goals.”

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