Sa’ar: Israel committed to ceasefire deal, has no plan to renew war

By Nava Freiberg

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

9 October 2025, 7:10 pm

Edit

Nava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar speaks at the Muni Expo 2025 conference in Tel Aviv, on July 15, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Israel is committed to US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the fighting in Gaza and has no intention to “renew the war,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says in an interview with Fox News ahead of the cabinet’s vote to ratify the first phase of the deal.

Sa’ar does not refer to the current developments as “the end of the war,” but stresses that Israel hopes to see the full plan carried out and that “we don’t have any intention to renew the war.”

Regarding the implementation of the first phase of the agreement, Sa’ar tells the network: “We will first have a ceasefire immediately after the decision is approved by the government, and then the commitment of Hamas within 72 hours to release the hostages.”

Asked if Israel will fully withdraw from Gaza following the hostage releases, Sa’ar reiterates that Israel is committed to first completing the hostage-release phase, which includes only a partial withdrawal, saying: “We are committed to Trump’s plan. The first redeployment will happen immediately in order to make the first phase happen. We will do that immediately after the decision of the government, within 24 hours.”

He stresses “other parts” of the plan, including a full withdrawal, “are conditional…. Israel must do things, but there are parts Hamas must do. Hamas must disarm, we should implement all parts of the plan.”

Asked by the network whether Israel would accept a Palestinian state and whether the Trump plan is a “step toward statehood,” Sa’ar replies: “No,” expressing the government’s long-held skepticism that the Palestinian Authority could implement the sweeping reforms outlined in the plan, which could ultimately lead to it taking a governance role in Gaza.

“The PA might be relevant only if it passes the reforms that were mentioned in the plan. Let’s see if that will happen,” Sa’ar says.

Responding to a question about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement today that Turkey will take part in the implementation of the first phase of the deal and in the reconstruction of Gaza, Sa’ar says: “I didn’t know about Turkey’s announcement, let’s approve the first part of the plan in the government, and then we will move to negotiate on the second phase.”