Smotrich says hostage deal would be a ‘mistake,’ urges ‘crushing Hamas’ instead

Smotrich: ‘Hamas is at its weakest point since the war began. This is not the moment to offer it any reprieve.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News Staff

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed strong opposition to the potential hostage-for-prisoner deal.

Smotrich told Kol Barama radio, “Hamas is at its weakest point since the war began.”

“This is not the moment to offer it any reprieve. We must continue to apply pressure and defeat it, ensuring that the hostages are returned under terms that demonstrate its surrender, not ours,” he added.

Smotrich continued, “Deals that involve releasing hundreds of terrorist murderers, who will return to killing Jews, or agreements that see us withdrawing from northern Gaza and allowing a million Gazans to come back and undo the hard-earned progress we’ve made with so much bloodshed—those are grave mistakes.

“If we weren’t negotiating with Hamas and instead focused solely on targeting them with our sights, tank fire, airstrikes, and the efforts of our heroic fighters, the hostages would have been freed long ago.”

Smotrich emphasized his conviction that this deal is “bad, doesn’t serve the State of Israel’s goals or interests, nor does it lead to victory in the war. It also doesn’t bring back the hostages because, in the end, it’s only a partial agreement.”

Despite earlier reports that Israel was “closer than ever” to a hostage deal, Israeli officials have denied that an agreement is imminent.

Israeli officials with firsthand knowledge of the ongoing talks between Israel and the Hamas terror group poured cold water on widely reported claims that the two sides are nearing a hostage deal.

Speaking to Axios, three sources said that there are still major issues of contention between the parties.

“The gaps are still significant. There are gaps that the negotiation teams can bridge, and that is what they are trying to do now in Qatar. In any case, there is still a long way to go,” an Israeli official with knowledge of the talks told Axios.

Another Israeli government insider slammed Hebrew-language media for publishing reports claiming that the parties are close to a deal.

“It doesn’t help the negotiations. It misleads the public and creates false illusions,” the source said.

A third Israeli official told Axios that “a deal is not around the corner.”