Hamas deliberate to maintain Israeli hostages for so long as a decade, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch mentioned in an in-depth interview, describing what he known as the phobia group’s lengthy sport of using captives, dwelling and lifeless, as strategic leverage meant to grind down Israel over years.
Hirsch, whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed on October 8, 2023, as coordinator for the captives and lacking, mentioned his personal inner evaluation early on pointed to a far shorter timeline than Hamas’s, but nonetheless measured in years. “I assumed it will take double,” he mentioned. “Not less than 4 years.”
In an interview with The Jerusalem Submit, he additionally disclosed that Israel repeatedly ready covert hostage rescue missions that by no means occurred. Some have been canceled as a result of planners doubted they might succeed, he mentioned, and others have been shelved out of concern that rescuing one captive might endanger others held close by. “If there was doubt about success,” Hirsch mentioned, “take them out by negotiations, even when it takes time.”
The interview got here days after Israeli forces recovered the stays of police officer Ran Gvili from Gaza, a improvement that, based on Israeli officers and a number of stories, closed the file on these kidnapped on October 7, 2023, whose whereabouts remained unresolved. Hirsch recalled calling Netanyahu with the replace and telling him, in English, “Mission completed.”
‘A storm of feelings’ the evening Gvili was recognized
Hirsch described the hours main as much as the identification as an intense operational stretch that blended cupboard work, subject coordination, and private pressure. The evening earlier than, he mentioned, the cupboard met late, adopted by discussions with Netanyahu after midnight. “Till 2 a.m., I spoke with the division commander within the subject and individuals who work with me,” he mentioned, including that his staff was monitoring restoration efforts amid issues about altering climate situations.
Close to daybreak, Hirsch mentioned, groups started identification work after large-scale restoration operations. He instructed the Submit he tried to remain targeted, at the same time as he “imagined the second many instances.” When he obtained the message that Gvili had been discovered, he mentioned, emotion broke by the routine. “My shut staff noticed me bounce to the heavens,” Hirsch recalled.
He mentioned he reached Netanyahu throughout one other high-level assembly as a result of the replace couldn’t wait. “With a pulse of 200,” he mentioned, “I instructed the prime minister: Ran Gvili is with us, we discovered him, and he’s on the best way residence.” Hirsch mentioned he requested Netanyahu to talk with the household, after which drove south towards the Nahal Oz space to fulfill Gvili’s father, Itzik, through the switch. Reviews on Gvili’s restoration recognized his dad and mom as Itzik and Tali.
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