Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned Sunday that "painful concessions" would be needed to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and that military action alone will not achieve the country's war aims.
"Not all objectives can be achieved through military operations alone... to realise our moral duty to bring our hostages home, we will have to make painful concessions," Gallant said, in a speech marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.
Gallant went on to name the country's military accomplishments in over a year of fighting.
"In the south, Hamas has ceased to act as a military structure, in the north, Hezbollah continues to suffer blows and its leadership has been eliminated, the majority of its rocket arsenal has been destroyed and its forces have retreated from the border line," he added.
New negotiations are expected on Sunday in Doha between Israeli, American, and Qatari officials to raise the possibility of a truce in Gaza associated with a hostage release.
Netanyahu claims success against Iran
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on the same day that Israel's air attack on Iran was “precise and powerful” and achieved all its goals.
“We promised we would respond to the Iranian attack, and on Saturday we struck... The attack in Iran was precise and powerful, achieving all of its objectives,” Netanyahu said in a speech marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack.
Israel's strikes were in retaliation for an October 1 attack by Iran, which fired about 200 missiles at Israel, though most were intercepted by the country's air defenses.
“Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of ballistic missiles and this attack failed,” Netanyahu said.
“We kept our promise. The air force attacked Iran and hit Iran's defence capabilities and missile production,” he said.
Iran confirmed Israel had targeted military sites around the capital and in other provinces, saying the raids caused "limited damage" but killed four soldiers.
With AFP
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