Hirsch: We have ‘failed’ hostages and their families, but are fighting slowly to avoid harming them

Israel’s point man on hostages says Israel has fought more slowly than necessary in Gaza in order to avoid harm to hostages, as the military pushes ahead with an offensive on Gaza City that is feared will put the captives in harm’s way.

“It’s clear that it was possible to maneuver [in Gaza] much more quickly, but with great effort, the IDF and the Shin Bet are conducting careful combat, which goes against the standard ways of employing military force,” Gal Hirsch says at Reichman University’s World Summit on Counter-Terrorism.

He adds that Israel is constantly refining its processes “to avoid harming them in every possible way.”

Hirsch says that Israel believes 20 hostages remain alive, pushing back against a claim by US President Donald Trump last week that “there could be a couple of dead in recent days.”

He acknowledges, however, that the hostages “are in danger – they’re in a combat zone, in a dangerous place, in the hands of dangerous kidnappers.”

“We are in a situation of failure,” he says of efforts to secure their release. “The responsibility to do everything to bring the hostages home is on us.”

He accuses Hamas of stringing Israel and mediators along over the summer as talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal appeared to advance, maintaining that Israel continued to engage with negotiators even after it announced the planned Gaza City offensive in early August.

“Hamas and its leadership, they are the ones torpedoing the negotiations,” Hirsch says.

Hamas propaganda on the talks is being spread through Israeli society, Hirsch charges, which causes pain to the families of hostages and damages efforts to bring the hostages home.

If Hamas is allowed to survive and gain strategic advantages in exchange for releasing hostages, he argues, other terror groups will learn that a country “can be brought to its knees by kidnapping its citizens.”

He calls for an international declaration of war on kidnapping and using humans as bargaining chips — a “global war on kidnapping.”

If other countries fail to support Israel and take a stand against kidnapping, October 7 will serve as inspiration for similar acts across the world, Hirsch warns.