Cabinet ministers welcome freed hostages, urge ‘fight to the bitter end’ against Hamas
Smotrich says Israel in talks with Washington on implementation of plan to encourage emigration of Gaza residents, claims process could ‘begin in the coming weeks’
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet welcomed the return of hostages Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Troufanov and Iair Horn on Saturday, even as they appeared to call for the abrogation of the ongoing ceasefire deal that led to their release.
In a tweet celebrating the hostages’ return, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that Israel was “continuing forward until victory and the full realization of the goals of the war — the destruction of Hamas and the return of all the hostages.”
Other members of Netanyahu’s cabinet also appeared to support a return to the fighting.
In a tweet, Transport Minister Miri Regev promised to “continue until we return all the hostages home, both living and dead, and destroy Hamas’s governmental and military capabilities,” while Education Minister Yoav Kisch warned that “the outline [of the current hostage-ceasefire deal] is not sacred.”
“With the full backing of [US] President [Donald] Trump, Hamas must understand that we will not agree to the abuse and prolongation of the captivity of the hostages,” Kisch wrote — insisting that Israel “must demand the urgent return of all the living hostages.”
In an English-language tweet, Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the Israeli military was “fully deployed and prepared for any scenario and any attempt by the terrorist organization Hamas to violate the agreement and prevent the release of the hostages.”
“We will continue to work together with [Trump] to ensure that all hostages return to Israel soon, and that the Palestinian terror threat is destroyed and removed from Gaza,” he wrote.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said that the scenes of the hostages’ return “fill us with the strength to continue the uncompromising struggle to return all our hostages and destroy Hamas.” And Social Equality Minister May Golan declared that the government was “committed to the return of all of our kidnapped citizens – both living and dead, and we must fight to the bitter end against all the Nazis in Gaza.”
By contrast, former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who left the coalition to protest the deal last month, accused Netanyahu of preferring the “path of submission and subservience” rather than military victory in Gaza.
“The Israeli government continues to miss opportunities and fail,” Ben Gvir declared on Saturday evening.
“Instead of adopting President Trump’s words and bringing hell to Hamas, Prime Minister Netanyahu prefers continued negotiations with the devil and the path of submission and subservience,” Ben Gvir stated. “This is not how a ‘right-wing government’ should operate.”
According to Channel 12, Netanyahu wants to expedite the release of the six more living hostages who are currently scheduled for release on the coming two Saturdays.
Beyond that, the report said, the premier wants to extend the current first phase of the deal beyond the designated 42 days, which are set to end on March 1, and secure the freedom of more hostages as part of phase one, including more hostages Israel now knows are in poor health.
He reportedly wants Israel’s negotiators to explain to the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, with US support, that it’s also in the interests of Hamas to extend phase one since this would ensure the ceasefire remains in place for longer.
Members of the opposition on Saturday urged that the three-phase deal be seen through to its completion, with National Unity chairman Benny Gantz calling the return of Dekel-Chen, Troufanov and Horn “another milestone on the path to restoration, construction and life” for Kibbutz Nir Oz, from which all three men were abducted on October 7, 2023.
“In order for Nir Oz to be rebuilt, its children and all the hostages must be returned,” he tweeted. “But the road is not yet complete. Seventy-three hostages are still in captivity, about 20 of them residents of Nir Oz, and we are committed to returning them all.”
Attending a protest at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid demanded that Israel not halt the ceasefire following its first phase.
“Israel must go to phase two of the deal. Everyone must return home,” he stated.
According to a recent poll, 70 percent of the Israeli public is in favor of continuing to the second phase of the deal with Hamas, under which 59 more hostages are to be freed, some 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
The Channel 12 survey also asked Israelis if they are for or against Trump’s plan to move residents of the Gaza Strip abroad, with 69% in favor and 18% opposed.
Smotrich: Trump’s Gaza plan within weeks
The Israeli government is actively in touch with Washington to discuss the implementation of Trump’s proposal, with the process likely to begin in a matter of weeks, Smotrich claimed on Saturday evening.
During an interview with Channel 12’s “Meet the Press,” Smotrich said that he believed that “the vast majority” of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are likely willing to relocate, adding that Israel needs to “find countries that can obviously absorb them” in addition to working out the details of the “huge logistical operation” involved in moving them abroad.
“Our team has begun preparations together with the president’s team,” he stated, adding that “this is a process that I hope will begin in the coming weeks, even if it is at a somewhat slow pace and will slowly intensify.”
Gazans, Smotrich continued, “have nothing to look for in Gaza in the next 10-15 years. After we return to fighting, and all of Gaza looks like Jabalia, there will be nothing to look for there at all.”
According to a December report in the Haaretz daily, the IDF estimates that around 70 percent of the buildings in Jabalia in north Gaza have been destroyed during the ongoing military operation there.
Hosting Netanyahu at the White House, Trump on Tuesday called to permanently relocate the entire population of the Gaza Strip, insisting that Gazans “have no alternative” but to leave the “big pile of rubble” that is Gaza after over 15 months of Israeli bombardment targeting Hamas.
Afterward, Katz said he had instructed the military to prepare a plan that would enable Gazans seeking to leave the Strip voluntarily to do so.
Trump’s plan has been roundly rejected by Hamas and Arab states.
Trump had already proposed moving some of Gaza’s population to Jordan and Egypt, temporarily or permanently, a measure eagerly embraced by Smotrich and others on the Israeli far right.
Speaking with reporters in the Knesset last month, Smotrich — who has previously proposed that Israel should occupy Gaza and “encourage” half of the Strip’s 2.2 million Palestinians to emigrate within two years — stated that he was already working on an “operational plan” to implement Trump’s idea and turn it into actionable policy.
Implementing Trump’s plan could potentially bring Ben Gvir’s ultra-nationalist Otzma Yehudit party back into the government, with the former cabinet minister stating last week that the chances of him rejoining the coalition had gone up significantly in the wake of Trump’s call.
Speaking with “Meet the Press” only hours after hostages Dekel-Chen, Troufanov and Horn were released by Hamas, Smotrich also reiterated his opposition to the ceasefire agreement and warned that freeing “murderous terrorists with blood on their hands” would lead to more bloodshed in the future.
Smotrich has warned that his Religious Zionism party’s continued membership in the government hinges upon a return to active military operations after the end of the deal’s first phase.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
