Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a news conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 28. Abir Sultan/Pool/Portal/FILE
The hostage deal does not involve the “release of murderers,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, providing further details of the agreement.
Most Israelis have welcomed the agreement, and Netanyahu said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and security agencies fully support the deal with Hamas.
“You made it clear at the government meeting yesterday that the security of our armed forces will be maintained during the break days,” Netanyahu said during a news conference.
But some fear that the list of Palestinians to be released from Israeli prisons could include the perpetrators of deadly attacks on Israelis.
The vast majority of Palestinians eligible for release are male teenagers aged 16 to 18 – children under the UN definition – although a handful are as young as 14. About 33 are women, according to a CNN count.
Netanyahu attributed the deal’s success to the combination of Israel’s “unceasing massive military pressure” on Hamas and the “strong” diplomatic pressure Israel had exerted to release hostages held by the militant group.
“We conducted tough negotiations and fought to improve the agreement,” Netanyahu said.
He said he spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday and thanked him for “acting on my request to the mediators to achieve a significant improvement in the agreement, and such an improvement has indeed been achieved.”
“I believe that this combination [of diplomatic and military efforts] will enable the release of more hostages in the next phases,” the Prime Minister said.
During the ceasefire, the IDF will “prepare to continue” the war against Hamas, Netanyahu said.
“The war continues and will continue until we achieve all of our objectives,” he said.