Gallant: Israel will take ‘any action’ to free hostages in Gaza, Hamas is ‘willing to pay’ for quiet

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says the military will carry out “any action” to rescue the roughly 240 hostages being held by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.

“We are going to perform any action that can lead to the rescue of our hostages. When I say ‘rescue,’ it could mean a ground operation and it could come from another place,” Gallant says to reservist troops, in remarks provided by his office.

He says that “only” military pressure on Hamas could lead to the terror group releasing the hostages.

“That is why I pushed all the way for the [ground] maneuver, because first of all, it achieves the goals of the war. And secondly, Hamas only understands force. If you don’t act with force, they don’t understand,” Gallant says.

“When you start acting with force, you suddenly have something to give them, and what you can give them is a short period of quiet, and when you give them a short period of quiet, they are willing to pay for it,” he adds.