From Gantz: Israel seeking ‘to make the most’ of hostage release deal but ready for war to resume
Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel
Minister Benny Gantz says that Israel will continue to try to “make the most” of its hostage deal framework with Hamas but is ready to renew the fight at a moment’s notice, hours before the deal is set to expire.
Hamas said earlier today that it’s open to extending the truce, now in its sixth day, and an Israeli official said talks to do so are ongoing.
“We are in complex moment, with a time window within the framework of the deal to return our kidnapped. We will work to make the most of it as much as possible,” Gantz says in remarks to the press. “At the same time, we are prepared and ready to return to fighting, at any given moment, including this moment.”
The war cabinet minister say that Israel is fighting its “most important war” since the 1948 War of Independence.
Vowing Israel will give Hamas no quarter, Gantz says the war will continue until residents of Israeli border communities that were evacuated amid the the fighting “can safely return” to their homes.
