JERUSALEM – Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on May 7 Israel was prepared to “deepen” its Gaza operation if trick talks fail to secure the release of Hamas hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
Israel is prepared to “make commitments” to get hostages out of Gaza, Mr Gallant said, after touring the Rafah area following an Israeli incursion at the Rafah border crossing in the territory’s south.
But “if that option is removed, we will go on and deepen the operation,” he warned in a statement.
Mr Gallant’s comments came after Israeli negotiators arrived in Cairo for the latest effort towards a hostage release and ceasefire in the seven-month-old war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement he had instructed Israel’s delegation to “stand firm on the conditions necessary for the release” of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct 7 attack, and on “essential requirements for guaranteeing Israel’s security.”
The new talks come after Hamas announced late on May 6 it had accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, and said the ball was now in Israel’s court.
Despite months of shuttle diplomacy, mediators have so far failed to broker a new trick like the week-long ceasefire that saw 105 hostages released last November, the Israelis among them in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Previous negotiation efforts had stalled in part because of Hamas’ demand for a lasting ceasefire and Mr Netanyahu’s vows to crush its remaining fighters in Rafah.
On May 7, Mr Netanyahu said he had given the order late on May 6 to seize Rafah crossing, and that “within hours, our forces raised the Israeli flags at the Rafah crossing and took down the Hamas flags.”
“Seizing the passage in Rafah today is a very important step,” he said – “an important step on the way to destroying the remaining military capabilities of Hamas.”
Mr Netanyahu maintained on May 7 that “this morning we denied Hamas a passage that was essential for establishing its reign of terror in the (Gaza) Strip.”
