Sinwar seeks a complete cessation of the war in the Gaza Strip, IDF withdrawal from the area in addition to the release of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel, Lt. Col. Yaron Buskila, CEO of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, told Maariv on Thursday.
He also explained his views on the progress of the war in the Gaza Strip and the pressures to carry out a hostage deal on Thursday.
He began by saying, “Regarding the continuation of fighting in Gaza, what Sinwar is actually asking for is not only the withdrawal of the IDF from the Philadelphi Corridor but also the [total] cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor and in general the withdrawal of the IDF. Even more, he is demanding [that Israel] not conduct flights over the Gaza Strip, not even by drones, to take pictures and collect intelligence, and finally the release of prisoners.”
“In other words, he seeks a return to the same power and capacity he had before October 7. It is clear that he is asking for the capacity to return to threaten Israel and create another October 7.”
“The question is, do we [Israel] want to release some of the hostages [or none of them]?” he asked, adding that Sinwar had not committed to releasing all the hostages.
“In exchange for that [the release of the hostages], we will continue to make concessions in the future to receive the rest of the hostages while putting at risk all other citizens of the State of Israel and certainly the residents of the south by Hamas and Hezbollah.”
The wrong lesson is being taught
“They will learn from this event that raiding into Israeli territory, occupying communities, and kidnapping Israelis is of utmost importance and can bring them the highest achievements.”
“Sinwar immediately prepared [for the assault], or perhaps he will in the West Bank very soon. And by this, he will weaken the State of Israel and strengthen all the Iranian proxies.”
“That’s why I think that in the end, we may not be able to release all our hostages in a military operation.
“Even if we finish negotiations, if we create significant military pressure in the Gaza Strip, stopping supplies, or at least transferring supplies to the IDF and distributing them only to parties we know and not to UNRWA, which transfers it to Hamas, then we will put significant pressure on Hamas to bring it back to the negotiating table, but under conditions that are convenient for us, just like it was in the first negotiation agreement,” he added.
In conclusion, he said, “We are currently not generating significant enough military pressure; we are mainly preserving what we have and not gaining achievements.
“We are not entering the heart of Rafah, and in fact, we have fewer troops [in the field] that also exert much less pressure, so Hamas does not feel pressured,” he further stated.
“We may have local fighting and preserve our achievements, but in fact, we are not exerting significant pressure, not even on the population in terms of food or moving them again to another area.
“We will not see a change if we do not make a change,” he asserted.
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