Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of trying to release the maximum number of hostages alive, after his meeting with Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement in detail [μεταφράστηκε από τα εβραϊκά]:

“I had a good and important meeting today with Secretary of State Blinken. I really appreciate the US efforts to defend against the Iranian axis. This is important, of course, for the state of Israel. I also greatly appreciate the understanding shown by the US for our vital security interests in our joint efforts to free our hostages. I would like to emphasize: Efforts to release a maximum number of hostages alive are already in the first stage of the agreement»

It is recalled that Netanyahu has demanded that any ceasefire agreement provide for a permanent presence of the Israel Defense Forces along the Egypt-Gaza border and include a mechanism to prevent the return of Hamas militants to northern Gaza. He also insisted that Israel reserves the right to continue the battle against Hamas to achieve all the stated goals of the war – the release of all hostages, the destruction of Hamas and the prevention of any situation that would lead to Gaza becoming a future terrorist threat to Israel. It is not clear how the US “bridge proposal”, which has not been published, seeks to resolve these issues.