Israel had no choice but to resume military operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after Phase 1 of the ceasefire ended and negotiations have reached an impasse, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said during an appearance at the Nevatim Conference for the Development of the Negev on Tuesday.
Israel has found itself in a situation where the terrorist organization in Gaza has stopped releasing hostages since it was under no pressure to do so, Sa’ar explained, especially since Israel was not attacking its forces.
Hamas has already rejected two different proposals by Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s special envoy to the Middle East, he said.
Sa’ar stated that the situation reminded him of the first 20 days between the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the start of the Israel Defense Forces ground incursion into Gaza.
“At that time, there was some hope, or some kind of desire, that maybe Hamas would come to its senses and cut a deal … as long as it didn’t happen, nothing happened,” said the foreign minister.
“We had no choice but to start shooting. … Hamas will have to understand the hard way that it will not be able to bring the State of Israel to its knees,” he added.
Sa’ar said due to a lack of options, the only path forward was “resuming military operations.”
Hamas wanted to split Israeli society from within and dictate the terms of the standoff, Sa’ar said, emphasizing that “will not happen.” He added that assertions of Israeli politicians in the opposition that a return to combat would hurt the hostages’ chances are “untrue and unfounded.”
Sa’ar stated that Israel’s wartime goals remain the same: the return of all the hostages, living and dead; the elimination of Hamas’s governmental and military capabilities in the Gaza; and the prevention of any future threat developing from the Strip.
Israel appears not only to have U.S. support in its recent return to military operations in the coastal enclave, which began overnight on Monday with a series of airstrikes, but European support as well.
Sa’ar shared a conversation on X he had on Tuesday with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, who agreed that Israel had no choice but to recommence military operations. JNS
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