Israeli leaders from both sides of the political aisle came out in favor of a hostage deal announced on Wednesday, which the terror group Hamas has committed to in writing, according to reports.
A Hamas delegation, led by senior official Khalil al-Hayya, delivered the formal approval to mediators in Qatar and Egypt, Al Jazeera reported.
Preparations have already started for the return of the hostages, held captive in the Gaza Strip for 467 days by Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces announced.
Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition and chairman of the Yesh Atid Party, said: “An entire country isn’t breathing tonight. We are all waiting, and we are all praying. But we cannot stop now, and the deal cannot end in its first part.
“I promise as I promised in the past a safety net until the last moment, until the last hostage, everyone must return home,” he added.
Israel Gantz, chairman of the National Unity Party, stated that “securing the release of the hostages from the arms of the murderous terror organization Hamas is a top moral and strategic imperative. It is simply the only way forward.”
He extended thanks to the negotiators in Israel, Egypt and Qatar; to outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden; and to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
“As President Trump said, we must now ensure Gaza never again rebuilds as a terrorist haven and continues to threaten the State of Israel,” Gantz said.
Yitzhak Goldknopf, Minister of Housing and Construction, and leader of the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Yisrael Party, tweeted: “Pikuach Nefesh [‘saving a life’] pushes aside the entire Torah. Our sons and daughters who are dying in Hamas tunnels, cry out to us and beg for their lives.
He added that “with God’s help, I will be able to fulfill tomorrow once again the incomparable commandment of ransoming captives and to support the deal that the prime minister is leading responsibly, while safeguarding Israel’s security interests.”
Uriel Busso, Israel’s minister of health and a member of the Shas Party, simply posted to X a picture of the remaining hostages with the words: “The health system is prepared and waits for you.”
‘We are at a crucial and fateful time’
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, has set conditions for his Religious Zionism Party to remain in the government if a deal with Hamas for the release of hostages is approved.
Smotrich has expressed concern that the deal would undermine Israel’s attempt to destroy Hamas.
“We are at a crucial and fateful time for the security, future and existence of the State of Israel. What stands before me is only one thing, and I am concerned with it with all my heart and soul, and that is how to achieve the full goals of the war—complete victory, the total destruction of Hamas, both military and civilian, and the return of all our hostages home,” he said in a video on social media on Wednesday.
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir of the Otzma Yehudit Praty was still more forceful in his opposition to a deal.
“The deal that is being formed is terrible. I know the details of it well: It includes the release of hundreds of murderous terrorists from prisons, the return of Gazans, including thousands of terrorists, to the northern Gaza Strip, pulls the IDF from the Netzarim corridor, and revives the threat to the residents of the envelope—thus effectively erasing the war achievements that have been achieved with much blood by our fighters,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
He warned that the current deal would cost the lives of many other Israeli citizens, noting that “we have already seen the fruits of these deals in the past.”
