Mossad chief said to tell ministers: Can’t get all hostages back ‘at this point in time’

Reporting more details of last night’s cabinet meeting, Channel 12 says Mossad chief David Barnea told ministers there is no prospect of getting all Hamas-held hostages released right now, and that the only potential deal currently on the table is for 40 hostages in the “humanitarian” category, which refers to women, children, the elderly and the sick.

The TV report says the ministers were given to understand that there was “a low probability” of Hamas accepting the current US proposal for a hostage-truce deal. It then quotes the cabinet discussion as follows:

Transportation Minister Miri Regev: “If there’s no choice but to return the residents of northern Gaza in order to get the hostages back, then that must be done. They’ll go back [to the north] anyway in the end.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin: “I oppose this. It will erode the achievements of the war.”

Regev: “Chief of staff, you said at your press conference marking six months of the war that you can handle any decision made by the political echelon, so do so. Make sure they don’t fire on Sderot. We have drones in the air — every time [a launch of projectiles] is identified, eliminate them from the air.”

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi: “When you choose the solution, we’ll be able to translate your decisions into determined and correct military action. We’ll handle it.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir: “Yes. We’ve seen how you handle it.”

Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem: “We mustn’t agree to a phased deal [for the hostages]. It needs to be one deal for them all.”

Mossad chief David Barnea: “At this point in time, we can’t get them all back. This [deal on the table now] is a humanitarian deal for 40 hostages.”