Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallad today called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to finalize a ceasefire deal with Hamas to allow Gaza hostages to return home, while the bodies of six hostages taken on October 7 were returned to their families.
“It is too late for the hostages who were murdered in cold blood. The hostages who remain in Hamas hands must return to their homes,” Galland wrote in X.
“The security cabinet must be convened immediately and revoke the decision taken on Thursday”, Gallant said, referring to a cabinet decision maintain Israel’s permanent military presence in the so-called Philadelphia Corridor, a small strip of land on the border of Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu’s insistence on keeping troops in that corridor to prevent Hamas from transferring weapons from Egypt is widely seen as one of the main obstacles to a deal with Hamas in the talks brokered by Egypt and Qatar.
Gallant has repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu and hardline religious nationalist ministers over the need to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza and release the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners from Israel.
About a third of the 101 Israeli and foreign hostages in Gaza are believed to be dead, while the fate of the rest is unknown.
Israeli media reported that Gallant clashed with Netanyahu during Thursday’s security cabinet meeting over the Philadelphia corridor issue and warned that time was running out for a deal to free the hostages.