Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night said Israel is “on the verge of a very great achievement,” expressing hope that a deal could be reached in the coming days to bring home all remaining hostages in one phase while the IDF maintains control inside Gaza.
Speaking in a video message, Netanyahu told Israelis the first phase he is pursuing would see “the return of all our hostages, both living and deceased, in one phase, while the IDF remains deep within the Strip and in the controlling areas within it.”
He reminded the public that “at the beginning of the war, a very senior security establishment official said: ‘It is doubtful whether we can bring back even one living hostage,’” and that “throughout the war, there were also those who claimed relentlessly that we could not receive all the hostages without a complete and full withdrawal from the Strip.”
“I thought differently – and I acted differently,” he said, crediting “the determined decisions I led together with the Government, and the bravery of our fighters who pressured Hamas,” and noting, “we have so far returned 207 of our hostages.”
He added a personal pledge to the captives and their families: “As I said to the hostages when I addressed them directly from the UN podium: ‘We have not forgotten you, not even for a moment,’” he said. Netanyahu said he and his wife met the families “throughout the war,” saw “their pain,” heard “their suffering,” and share their prayers that those waiting will embrace their loved ones, while the families of the deceased “will be able to bring their loved ones — our loved ones — for Jewish burial.”
To bring back the remaining 48, he said that “a few weeks ago I instructed the IDF to enter the most important Hamas stronghold – Gaza City.”
“Concurrently,” he added, “I coordinated a diplomatic move with President Donald Trump and his team that instantly flipped the script. Instead of Israel being isolated – Hamas is isolated.”
As a result of “intense military pressure” and “diplomatic pressure,” he said, “Hamas was pressured into agreeing to the plan we presented.” Under that first stage, “Hamas will release all of our hostages, and IDF forces will redeploy in a way that the IDF will continue to hold all of the controlling areas deep inside the Strip.”
Addressing commentary that Hamas would have agreed a year or two ago without Israeli conditions, he said flatly: “That is simply a lie.” “What brought about the change in Hamas’s position is solely the military and diplomatic pressure we have exerted.”
Netanyahu said he had “stood up to tremendous pressure from within and without to stop the war and surrender to Hamas’s dictates.”
Without holding firm, he argued, “we would have left Gaza with almost no achievement. We would not have entered Rafah and taken control of the Philadelphi Corridor, thereby stopping all possibility of smuggling weapons into the Strip. We would not have eliminated Haniyeh, Sinwar, Deif, and Nasrallah. We would not have brought about the collapse of the Assad regime and the breaking of the Iranian axis of evil, and above all – we would not have removed the existential threat of nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles from Iran.”
Netanyahu said Israel’s campaign in Gaza had delivered results far beyond expectations — accomplishments he attributed to holding firm and refusing to pull out under international pressure. He called it “a historic achievement that will be recorded in the annals of Israel and also in the annals of nations.”
Looking to the immediate steps, he said, “I have instructed the negotiating team, headed by Minister Dermer, to go to Egypt to close the technical details of the release of our hostages.”
“Our intention and that of our American friends is to limit this negotiation to a few days,” he added, pointing to President Trump’s message to Hamas: “We will not tolerate any more delay tactics, time-wasting, or evasion.”
Addressing skepticism, he continued: “There were those who dismissed the possibility that we could succeed in bringing about the release of all our hostages without a full withdrawal from the Strip. They said: ‘It’s too good to be true.’ So I tell you: ‘It’s true’ — and with G-d’s help, it will happen very soon.”
He outlined the next stage as well: “In the second stage, Hamas will be disarmed and the Strip demilitarized. This will happen either via a diplomatic route according to the Trump Plan – or via a military route by us.”
Recalling his recent remarks in Washington, he emphasized the end state: “Either it will be achieved the easy way, or it will be achieved the hard way – but it will be achieved.”
Netanyahu thanked the IDF and security forces — “you are heroes!” — offered comfort to bereaved families and the wounded, and closed with Scripture: “They helped every one his neighbor, and every one said to his brother, ‘Be of good courage.’”
Still, major questions remain over Hamas’s response. While the group has signaled partial acceptance of the broad framework, its statement did not include a commitment to fully disarm — a core requirement of President Trump’s plan that also bars Hamas from any future role in Gaza’s governance and requires the release of all 48 remaining hostages within 72 hours of agreement, in a single phase.
Reports from within Gaza suggest Hamas remains deeply divided over whether to accept the full terms, with competing factions disputing both the pace of implementation and control over the remaining captives.
Adding to the uncertainty, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk claimed it could take the group “months” to locate all hostages, while an Israeli official countered that Hamas knows the whereabouts of all living captives and can reach them.
Without verified enforcement on disarmament and compliance, critics warn, Hamas could attempt to delay or fragment the process — undermining the very terms on which the deal rests. President Trump made clear he would not allow that to happen, writing on Truth Social that he “will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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