For days, the United States, the European Union, the UN and a group of Arab countries have been pressuring Israel and Hamas to move forward with a ceasefire in Gaza and thus allow the exchange of hostages. In this context, the former deputy chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Matan Vilnaiaddressed in an interview on radio 104.5FM the possible dynamics and strategies related to the release of the hostages captured by the terrorist group.
During the interview, Vilnai commented on the development of the conflict in the southern Gaza city on the border with Egypt, Rafahand indicated that the IDF is currently fighting the last battalions of Hamas.
“We need to hit and dismantle them within a dense population. It is clear that there will be casualties. The FDI does not do this intentionally and these actions are under global scrutiny. I saw the aerial images. The army acted correctly and there were secondary explosions of Hamas weapons that caused this disaster,” said the former member of the Israeli parliament.
Along these lines, he highlighted that in the middle of this battle in southern Gaza, Hamas could consider the possibility of transfer the captives through the tunnels of the Philadelphia Corridor to the Egyptian side, emphasizing that “everything is possible.” According to him, “if Hamas thinks this would work, they will do it. “Egypt is interested in helping us, but theoretically, this could happen.”
The Philadelphia Corridor, which Israel has controlled for a few days, is located on the border between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai, and extends through the divided city of Rafah. “There is no simple solution. Full coordination with the Egyptians is needed. As far as I know, the Egyptians have behaved appropriately so far. Controlling the corridor presents other difficulties,” he added.
On the other hand, Vilnai drew attention to the possible infiltration of terrorists from the West Bank territories. “This is a ticking bomb and it is only a matter of time until it explodes. Until now, the Central Command has operated very successfully,” he highlighted.
Meanwhile, he clarified that “the infiltration potential from Judea and Samaria (Israel’s name for the West Bank) is much greater than that from Gaza, mainly because it represents a direct threat to Israel. If we handle this wisely, it won’t happen. If we handle it foolishly, it will happen. This is a very problematic front and the Israeli government needs to address it thoroughly.”.
Regarding the priority of freeing the hostages held by Hamas, Vilnai emphasized that this should have been the government’s main focus before starting the war. “If we had a smart government, it would have brought them back by now. “Once the hostages are in our hands, we can focus on completely erasing Hamas.”
Finally, Vilnai also called for an immediate end to the war, criticizing the current strategy of the Israeli government and questioning the evacuation of the north: “I belong to a minority that does not understand why they evacuated the north. We never evacuated a single settlement. Now we need to respond to the continued rocket fire. In this situation, it remains impossible to bring residents back.”
Meanwhile, the former deputy head of the FDI stressed the need for a robust and coordinated response that includes cooperation with Egypt and other strategic measures in the region. He stressed that, beyond the military offensive, the hostage situation and the prevention of infiltrations must be top priorities for the well-being and security of Israel.
