❗️Senior Israeli official speaking to Israel’s Channel 12:
❗️Senior Israeli official speaking to Israel’s Channel 12:
– “Hamas accepted Trump’s plan as a result of pressure from Arab states and Ankara.”
– “The hostages will be released within a few days before Israel withdraws from Gaza — such an agreement has never before been placed on the table.”
– “Until now, Hamas had insisted on releasing the final hostages only after Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza.”
– “Now, however, Israel will carry out only a tactical withdrawal, and even if all hostages are released, the Israeli army will remain deployed across much of Gaza.”
– “Hamas has been more vulnerable to pressure than in the past, and pressure from Arab leaders played a role in its acceptance; Turkey also played an important role. As a result, a new proposal was prepared aimed first and foremost at securing the release of all hostages.”
– “After the prisoner exchange, Hamas will disarm, Gaza will be demilitarized, and ‘the day after’ discussions will take place in Gaza.”
– “This sequence of the Trump plan gave Israel a great advantage because Israel will both retrieve the hostages and keep the army in much of Gaza while negotiations on future steps continue.”
– “Regarding Israel-US coordination, the possibility that Hamas might respond to Trump’s proposal with ‘yes, but’ was discussed in the Netanyahu-Witkoff-Kushner meeting in Washington, DC.”
– “As Trump stated when announcing the plan at the White House on September 29, he also clearly conveyed in a phone call with Netanyahu yesterday that ‘if Hamas does not release all hostages, Israel could restart the war.’”
