Gantz says fighting in Gaza will continue, even if Israel agrees to temporary halt for hostage deal

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz says that even if Israel pauses fighting as part of a potential hostage deal, it will continue pursuing its war to dislodge Hamas’s control over the Gaza Strip.

“Even if a ceasefire is required order to return hostages, there will be no stopping the war,” Gantz says, while visiting military leadership in Israel’s north.

“We continue until our goals are achieved,” Gantz adds. Israel has repeatedly said that it aims to uproot Hamas’s political and military control over the Strip, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a post-Hamas Gaza must be demilitarized and de-radicalized.

There are about 240 hostages in Gaza, taken from Israel by terrorists on October 7. Gantz says that Israel is “making every political and military effort to bring the girls and boys home safely. We are doing everything possible to bring everyone back, by any means.”

Addressing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose organization has stepped up cross-border attacks against Israel, Gantz says: “Has he lost touch with the reality on the ground?

“This question must now be asked by the citizens of Lebanon and the Lebanese government,” Gantz says.