Israeli minister calls to rearrest freed terrorists after Hamas violated hostage deal

After Hamas’ multiple violations of the hostage deal, Smotrich demands Netanyahu order the IDF to arrest terrorists freed as part of the agreement.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior Israeli government minister is calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order Israeli forces to arrest all of the Arab terrorists released by Israel to Judea and Samaria as part of the hostage deal with Hamas, in retaliation for Hamas’ repeated violations of the agreement.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich penned a letter to Netanyahu demanding that Israel respond to the latest violations by Hamas of the hostage deal.

“Against the backdrop of the various and ongoing violations by Hamas of the terms of the ceasefire deal and the first phase of President Trump’s plan,” Smotrich wrote, “and against the backdrop of a complete lack of progress toward the disarming and demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, I request that an emergency hearing of the narrow [security] cabinet be called today to deliberate on a plan with strong, decisive responses, and to make clear our position regarding the central goal of this war – the destruction of Hamas and the removal of the threat posed by the Gaza Strip to Israeli citizens.”

“We cannot permit Hamas to toy with Israelis, and to cynically and cruelly play with the emotions of the families of slain hostages.”

Taking to his X account Tuesday morning, Smotrich clarified that the steps he is demanding Netanyahu endorse include arresting terrorists freed under the hostage deal.

“I intend to demand that the Prime Minister order the IDF to rearrest today all of the terrorists who were released in the hostage deal to Judea and Samaria – in response to Hamas’s repeated and ongoing violations,” he wrote.

Smotrich’s comments came shortly after Israeli forensics teams said the remains transferred to Israel by Hamas Monday night did not belong to one of the 13 slain hostages still held in captivity in Gaza.

Following the completion of the identification, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the remains belong to Ofir Tzarfati, a slain hostage whose body was returned from the Gaza Strip in a military operation about two years ago.”

“This constitutes a clear violation of the agreement by the Hamas terrorist organization,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Netanyahu announced that he plans to hold security deliberations with his top brass to weigh Israel’s response to the latest violation of the hostage deal.

Under the terms of the hostage deal, Hamas was required to return all 48 captives, living and dead, by October 13.

While Hamas returned all 20 living hostages and 15 of the slain captives, the bodies of 13 hostages remain in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has accused Hamas of violating the terms of the ceasefire deal, stating that the locations of most of the remaining hostages are known, accusing the Gaza terror group of intentionally withholding the hostages’ remains.