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Israel’s Minister of National Missions Orit Strock told Arutz Sheva – Israel National News that Israel has effective levers it can use to pressure Hamas to return the bodies of the 13 remaining murdered hostages – and warned that unless Hamas feels “real pain” it will not release them.
“In order to return the remaining murdered hostages, we have the option to apply much more significant pressure levers – measures that will hurt Hamas,” Strock said. “If we do not inflict on them real pain, they will not give us those fallen hostages.”
Strock declined to spell out specific measures at this stage, saying she preferred to keep potential steps confidential “as long as there is a chance to convince the prime minister and for him to convince the Americans – that is the mission he sees for himself on this issue. It is preferable that the measures remain secret, but if there is no chance I will put them on the public table so the public will know what means can be used but are not being used.”
She leveled harsh criticism at Hamas’s handling of the issue. “Hamas is committing a vile act with its contemptible foot-dragging on the issue of the fallen hostages. It is not doing this only to torment the families and the Israeli public, but to buy time and avoid its basic obligation – the foundational element of the Trump plan – relinquishing all military and civil control so that Gaza will be demilitarized and pose no threat to the State of Israel. These goals are not only our war objectives, sanctified by the blood of our soldiers, but also central pillars of the U.S. president’s plan.”
Strock added that U.S. President Trump supports these goals and has created an international consensus that includes Arab states, and that this consensus must be realized. “The zone of terror that currently exists across nearly half of Gaza – the whole ‘red’ sector where Hamas is entrenched – must change,” she said, noting that a series of painful steps that could be taken against Hamas have already been presented by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to the prime minister.
On the recent proposal to re-incarcerate terrorists released in previous swaps – a measure now codified in law – Strock said there is no reason not to implement it, “certainly when Hamas is abusing our hostage families and the Israeli public in this way.”
However, she stressed this is only a symptom, not the root of the problem. “Half of Gaza is under a terrorist rule that must be erased. That is our mission and the reason we went to war. That’s why I voted against changing the name of the war last Sunday. As long as we do not complete the war’s objectives – the total elimination of Hamas rule in Gaza, full demilitarization of the Strip and the removal of every threat – we have no moral right to call this war a war of liberation. We are at a crossroads of praise or condemnation for those who sent our soldiers to war, including myself and the prime minister.”
Strock recalled that the prime minister himself committed to achieving all war objectives prior to the most recent deal, telling a forum of bereaved families that “Hamas must disappear completely.”
Addressing the hostage deal itself, Strock said it was “the right decision, even though it was difficult.” She explained that the understanding was the release of all living hostages could not be achieved simultaneously by force alone and therefore required a deal. “I believed it was possible by military pressure – which is why we constantly pushed the IDF to enter and advance into Gaza. We were sure that would bring us our hostages and that it was wrong to agree to any partial deal other than one that would return all the living hostages together. That achievement is very important to me and should not have been missed. After weighing everything, we acted correctly. You cannot compare the situation in which we have living hostages in Gaza to one in which we do not.”
She reiterated her principled opposition to releasing terrorists, especially on such a scale and particularly when they are dangerous, saying the danger is not only from the released individuals but also from the message it sends – that there is no price for killing Jews, which would make kidnapping Jews an easy weapon against Israel.
Asked whether Israel should have retained “cards up its sleeve,” such as delaying the release of prisoners or the resumption of humanitarian aid, she said there are many other responses available but refused to elaborate.
Strock said the current emphasis must be not only on destroying Hamas but also on restoring full operational freedom for the IDF in Gaza. “The IDF needs to operate in Gaza as it does in Judea and Samaria: if the army identifies a threat in Jenin, Shechem, Ramallah or Jericho it enters and acts – the same must be true in the Gaza Strip. The army’s hands should not be tied.”
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