Veteran Likud MK tells Netanyahu: Any ceasefire with Hezbollah must guarantee return of Gaza hostages
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Any ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah must guarantee the return of the hostages held in Gaza as well as the return of displaced residents to the north, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a letter, the veteran Likud lawmaker notes that since the beginning of the war, “Hezbollah tied its fate to that of Hamas” and while “this is not the time for a ceasefire” when a deal is eventually reached to end the fighting “we must include the return of all the hostages” along with “the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes while achieving all of the war’s objectives.”
Edelstein writes that based on information he has seen “about the significant achievements in the northern sector,” he believes that “it would be a mistake not to continue to deepen our achievement.”
“I am sure that it will be unnecessary to point out to you how a ceasefire at this time will allow the enemy to reorganize and restore his operational capabilities,” he adds.