Ex Israeli hostage negotiator revealed that the Gaza war could have been concluded a year prior.
Former Israeli hostage negotiator Major General (retd) Nitzan Alon has said Israel could have ended the Gaza war about a year earlier and secured the release of all its remaining hostages without significantly compromising its other strategic objectives.
The attack killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, triggering Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and a prolonged effort to secure the release of the hostages.
Alon made the remarks during a Washington Institute for Near East Policy webcast on October 2, arguing that Israel could have reached the position it ultimately achieved “much earlier, maybe a year earlier or so”, according to Al Jazeera. He said the prolonged war may have cost the lives of hostages who could otherwise have been brought home alive. Alon, who served as the Israeli military’s point person for hostage negotiations during the war, said Israel’s insistence on achieving “total victory” over Hamas before accepting a comprehensive deal was based on a false premise. Alon said the decision to continue the war also had a human cost, arguing that an earlier agreement could have brought some hostages home alive and potentially saved thousands of lives on both sides. He said Israel “could have and should have” shortened the war and returned the hostages earlier.