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ITONGADOL/AJN AGENCY.- The Israel Defense Forces (FDI) consider the return of the 59 hostages that are still in the possession of Hamas in the Gaza Strip as the most important objective of the war, contrary to the position of Prime minister Benjamín Netanyahu, who declared Thursday that the “victory” on the terrorist group that governs the strip was the maximum objective.
“The supreme mission that the IDF are facing is our moral duty to return to the hostages. The second mission is to defeat Hamas. We are working to advance both objectives, the return of the hostages being the main priority,” said a military officer who informed the press earlier this week.
The Chief of the General Staff of the FDI, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, who assumed the position two months ago, repeatedly declared that the return of the hostages is their highest priority.
His predecessor, Herzi Halevi, also said that the return of hostages is a more urgent issue than other objectives. “Hamas is wrong about our determination to return to hostages and defeat it. Both tasks get mutually involved. We will increase our activities until both are completed,” Zamir said in a commemorative ceremony of the Fallen Day on Tuesday night.
The army has been preparing for an intensified offensive that would imply the call to ranks of a large number of reservists and troops operating in new areas of Gaza, according to FDI.
Three FDI divisions currently operate in Gaza, in an offensive that, according to the Army, aims to press Hamas to accept a hostage agreement, and not destroy the terrorist group.
The military officer acknowledged that “despite the military pressure exerted, the Hamas terrorist organization remains unwanted (to accept an agreement).”
The statements of Netanyahu on Thursday occurred after the families of the hostages accused the prime minister in recent days of sabotaging a possible truce agreement and hiding information about the remaining 59 captives.
“There are 24 alive, 59 in total, and we want to repatriate the living and the dead,” said Prime Minister.
“It is a very important goal,” Netanyahu continued, and then added: “War has a supreme objective, and that supreme objective is the victory over our enemies, and we will achieve that.”
