“From the beginning, I made it clear: we will not rest until all our hostages return and all our goals are achieved,” said the Israeli premier.
JNS Staff
(JNS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday hailed the expected return of the 48 hostages as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas as a “diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel.”
“With the approval of the first phase of the plan, all our hostages will be brought home,” Netanyahu wrote on X, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to the plan.
“From the beginning, I made it clear: we will not rest until all our hostages return and all our goals are achieved,” the premier said.
The Jewish state had reached this “critical turning point” through “steadfast resolve, powerful military action, and the great efforts of our great friend and ally President Trump,” according to Netanyahu, who thanked the U.S. leader for “his leadership, his partnership, and his unwavering commitment to the safety of Israel and the freedom of our hostages.
“God Bless Israel. God Bless America. God Bless our great alliance,” he wrote.
Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the two-year-old war sparked by the terrorist group’s invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The agreement is expected to be formally signed at 12 noon Thursday in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Under the terms of the agreement, the 48 hostages, who have been held in Gaza for over 730 days, are to be freed within 72 hours of the deal’s signing, with initial reports indicating that Jerusalem was preparing for their return home as early as Saturday.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the hostage deal would “bring moments of indescribable relief to the dear families who have not slept for 733 days.”
“This is a morning of historic and momentous news,” the Israeli head of state tweeted, adding that the agreement with Hamas “offers a chance to mend, to heal, and to open a new horizon of hope for our region.
“This is a time to honor the heroes among us: our sons and daughters who fought bravely to bring the hostages home; the bereaved families; the wounded in body and spirit; and all who have paid an unbearable price for this historic and vital moment,” wrote Herzog.
Saying there is “no doubt” that Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, Herzog extended “deepest thanks” to the U.S. president and “all those involved in this vital effort,” including Netanyahu.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said during a visit to Gaza City’s Sabra area on Thursday morning that he understood “exactly why Hamas’s leadership is pressing for an end to the war.”
“I saw up close the power of the maneuver and the changed landscape,” Katz tweeted in Hebrew. “Well done to our brave soldiers, both regular and reservists, for the dedication, determination, and sacrifice that led to this great achievement,” he concluded.
Israeli lawmaker Simcha Rothman, whose Religious Zionism Party was among the coalition’s fiercest critics of the deal, tweeted on Thursday: “Now is the time to laugh and dance with the hope for the swift release of all the hostages, and to pray that this hope comes to fruition.”
While “There is also much to weep over,” he continued “these discussions are for tomorrow. If the deal is carried out and is fulfilled exactly as written, and if Israel’s freedom of action to eliminate any security threat is preserved, our situation will be better than before the deal.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid Party) thanked Trump in an English-language X post, adding: “We are waiting for our children with bated breath.”
In a separate post in Hebrew, Lapid thanked the Jewish state’s security forces, “the heroes who sprang into action on the morning of Oct. 7 and haven’t rested since—on their mission to defend the country and bring the hostages home,” adding: “They sacrificed everything for the nation.”
Benny Gantz, leader of the opposition Blue and White Party, said that “an entire nation wakes this morning with hope and expectation for the imminent return of our brothers and our sister, after two years in hell.
“I want to thank President Trump for his enormous efforts and his uncompromising commitment to returning all the hostages and to ensuring Israel’s security; Prime Minister Netanyahu and the political leadership for the important and correct decision to adopt the president’s plan; and the professional teams and the negotiation team who worked hard to reach the signing moment.”
Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman said that, “Together with all the people of Israel, we look forward to the return of all our hostages.”
“A morning of hope and great joy,” he tweeted. “I congratulate President Trump for his efforts and leadership in the deal. Thanks to all those involved who took part in leading the agreement.”
Yair Golan, who heads Israel’s far-left The Democrats Party, said, “this is the time to continue with full strength to ensure that they indeed return.”
“After two long years of pain and struggle, there is hope,” Golan wrote, thanking Trump, hostage families, IDF soldiers, and anti-government activists.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter told CNN on Wednesday night that Jerusalem hopes that the deal would end the two-year-long war with the terrorist organization on Israel’s southern border.
“It’s the first phase of a very important plan that the president has presented, and we hope it leads to a complete cessation of hostilities and a rebuilding of Gaza for the sake of the Gazans and for the sake of Israel,” Leiter said. “But it’s the first stage, and we’ve got to see the first stage implemented completely in the next few days.”
Leiter confirmed that Jerusalem would be releasing terrorist prisoners as part of the deal, including “many” who had murdered Israeli civilians.
“That has to be approved by our Cabinet,” Leiter said, adding that the 72-hour deadline for Hamas to release the hostages would kick in as soon as Israel formally approved the terms of the agreement. The hostages could be freed as early as Sunday, according to him.
“This would not have happened without military pressure that we applied on Hamas,” Leiter told CNN. “And the fact that we’re sitting now outside of Gaza City, ready and poised to complete this project militarily is, at the end of the day, what brought Hamas to the table.”
