Likud minister: ‘Zero’ chance of bringing back hostages in a deal

Education Minister Yoav Kisch, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, says there is no chance of bringing back the hostages in a deal, blaming intransigence by Hamas.

“The possibility of bringing back the hostages through a framework [for a deal] is zero,” Kisch tells the Kan public broadcaster. “What we need to focus on is how to achieve the war goals knowing that Hamas will not release hostages.”

Kisch also says Israel was forced to boost the flow of aid into Gaza due to international pressure stemming from reports of soaring starvation in the Strip. The minister dismisses those reports as part of “Hamas’s fallacious hunger campaign,” which he says was “unfortunately echoed by no small number” of Israeli organizations.

The measures Israel announced Saturday night to increase the flow of aid — including opening “humanitarian corridors” and pauses in fighting in densely populated areas for 10 hours a day — “don’t help us tactically on the ground in the fighting against Hamas,” says Kisch.

“The main point is that I don’t think it’s a maneuver that will be with us for very long,” he adds.

Speaking to the same outlet, Likud lawmaker Moshe Saada says he thinks Netanyahu’s strategic goal in Gaza is “military government, conquering the Strip, staying in the Strip, a humanitarian city and encouraging migration.”

Saada adds that Netanyahu has refrained from those steps till now “because he was trying to bring back the hostages.”