Sa’ar says military pressure is crucial to breaking Gaza deadlock

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praises the renewed military campaign in Gaza, saying that without military pressure, the situation vis-a-vis Hamas would have “remained stuck.”

“If we had continued waiting,” the foreign minister says at a conference in Dimona, “the situation would have remained at a standstill.”

Sa’ar says that the present circumstances “strongly reminded” him of the first 20 days of the war before the ground incursion into Gaza, “when there was hope that maybe Hamas would agree to a deal. As long as we did not use force — nothing happened.”

While Israel made “sincere efforts” to advance ceasefire talks, and “President Trump’s envoy, Witkoff, proposed two different offers,” Hamas rejected these proposals, says Sa’ar.

“In the past two and a half weeks, we have reached a deadlock — there is neither airstrikes nor the return of hostages, and this is something Israel cannot accept,” continues the foreign minister, adding that the return to fighting “is a continuation of our commitment to achieving the war’s objectives. The war’s goals remain unchanged.”