{"id":315816,"date":"2025-08-04T00:01:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T00:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/315816\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T00:01:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T00:01:24","slug":"pm-said-seeking-decisive-military-victory-in-gaza-putting-hostage-families-on-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/315816\/","title":{"rendered":"PM said seeking ‘decisive military victory’ in Gaza, putting hostage families on edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is \u201cpushing for the release the hostages through decisive military victory,\u201d according to a diplomatic source quoted Sunday by Hebrew media,<\/p>\n

The source\u2019s comments came as captives\u2019 relatives slammed reported plans to expand the fighting in the Gaza Strip and slammed Netanyahu for indicating, in a video statement on harrowing footage of two hostages, that there was no ceasefire-hostage deal in sight.<\/p>\n

In comments carried by several outlets, the unnamed source said\u00a0\u201can understanding is forming that Hamas is not interested in a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Therefore, the source said, \u201cthe prime minister is pushing for the release of hostages through decisive military victory, combined with the entry of humanitarian aid to areas outside the combat zone, and, as much as possible, outside of Hamas control.\u201d The source did not elaborate on how such a plan would work.<\/p>\n

The source was said to have added that \u201cIsrael is in contact with the Americans,\u201d whose special envoy Steve Witkoff<\/a> said Saturday that Washington was aiming to end the Gaza war rather than expand it, and that the US was no longer interested in partial hostage deals.<\/p>\n

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According to Channel 12 news, due to the US pivot away from deals that would temporarily pause the fighting in exchange for only some of the hostages, Israel is set to decide this week if it will expand the fighting \u2014 even at the risk of harming hostages \u2014 or allow more time for a potential deal.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Illustrative: IDF soldiers are seen in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo released July 28, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n

The network reported that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz are undecided on the matter, while the rest of the security cabinet is divided.<\/p>\n

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs were said to be in favor of expanding the war.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar, Shas leader Aryeh Deri, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Mossad chief David Barnea reportedly oppose expanding the fighting, as do the Shin Bet\u2019s negotiator, who is known by the Hebrew initial \u201cMem,\u201d and Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, who is overseeing the hostage file for the military.<\/p>\n

Hostage families decry plan to expand fighting<\/p>\n

In a video statement Sunday evening, Netanyahu said propaganda footage of hostages Evyatar David<\/a> and Rom Braslavski<\/a> \u2014 clips from which the hostages\u2019 families approved for publication the past two days \u2014 showed Hamas was uninterested in a hostage deal.<\/p>\n

The footage, published respectively by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad last week, show the hostages to be pale and skeletal. David could be seen in an underground tunnel digging what he said he feared was his grave.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu said the videos strengthened his resolve to vanquish the terror group.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Still images of hostages Ram Braslavski (left) and Evyatar David from Hamas propaganda videos, cleared for publication by their families in August 2025. (Composite screenshot)<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand exactly what Hamas wants,\u201d he said in a video released by his office. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t want a deal. It wants to break us \u2014 with these horrifying videos, with the false horror propaganda it spreads across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The premier said he was \u201cshocked\u201d by \u201cthe horrifying videos\u201d and spoke with the hostages\u2019 families.<\/p>\n

Apparently referring to the hand of a captor that can be seen in the video of David, Netanyahu said that as the hostages \u201cwaste\u00a0away in a dungeon\u2026 the Hamas monsters surrounding them \u2014 they have thick, fleshy arms. They have everything they need to eat. They are starving them the way the Nazis starved the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we will not break,\u201d Netanyahu said, adding: \u201cI am filled with even greater determination to free our captive sons, to eliminate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following Netanyahu\u2019s statement, and in response to the Hebrew media reports about cabinet plans to expand the fighting in Gaza,\u00a0the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the premier \u201cis leading Israel and the hostages to the abyss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Anti-government, pro-hostage deal protesters rally around a fire in front of the Begin Road entrance to the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, August 2, 2025. (Jack GUEZ \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu is preparing the greatest scam,\u201d said the Forum, which represents a majority of the families of the remaining 50 hostages. \u201cThe talk, which has been heard again and again, about releasing the hostages through decisive victory, is a fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 22 months now the public has been sold the illusion that military pressure and intense fighting will bring the hostages back,\u201d said the group. \u201cEven before the draft for a comprehensive deal was written, we\u2019re being told there is no feasibility for a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth must be told: Expanding the war endangers the lives of the hostages who are at risk of imminent death. We saw the chilling images of the hostages in the tunnels, they won\u2019t survive more long days of horror,\u201d the group said, adding that expanding the Gaza war\u00a0\u201cis a guarantee of the failure of the century.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no victory nor any revival in it,\u201d the group added.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not something we didn\u2019t know\u2019<\/p>\n

Despite Netanyahu\u2019s professed shock at the state of David and Braslavski, Hebrew media reported that the cabinet and other security forums were repeatedly briefed in recent weeks that the remaining hostages were being starved.<\/p>\n

Sources familiar with the issue were cited by the Ynet news site as saying: \u201cThe visual was still devastating, but it\u2019s not something we didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hostage families and their supporters rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on August 2, 2025. The screen shows, from right to left, pictures of hostage Evyatar David before his abduction; in a propaganda video from February 2025; and in a propaganda video from July 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

The security establishment was said to have warned in a recent closed meeting: \u201cThe hostages are suffering difficult captivity conditions. Their conditions are deteriorating; their captors are starving them. This didn\u2019t happen because of lack of access to food \u2014 the captors received orders to starve the hostages and give them minimal food, only to keep them alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braslavski and David are among the 20 hostages still thought to be alive in Gaza. All are young men abducted during the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.<\/p>\n

Terror groups in Gaza are also holding the remains of at least 28 hostages confirmed dead by the IDF, including the body of an IDF soldier killed fighting in Gaza in 2014. There are grave concerns for the well-being of two other hostages, Israeli officials have said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is \u201cpushing for the release the hostages through decisive military victory,\u201d according to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-315816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114967562721550242","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}