Tel Aviv [Israel], November 23 (ANI/TPS): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday met UK Foreign Secretary and former Prime Minister David Cameron, said the country hopes “to get our hostages out”.
“We hope to get our hostages out. It’s not without its challenges. But we have to, we hope to get this first tranche out. And then we’re committed to getting everyone out,” Netanyahu told Cameron.
Netanyahu further said that Israel will then “continue with our war aims, namely to eradicate Hamas because Hamas has already promised that they will do this again and again and again. They are a genocidal terrorist cult.”
Netanyahu said that Israel sustained proportionately twenty 9/11s – twenty 9/11s.
“It’s as though 50,000 Americans were slaughtered in a single day and 10,000 were held hostage, including a nine-month-old baby. He can’t walk, he can’t talk, he’s a hostage. What kind of people do this? The answer is these are not people; these are monsters. These monsters have to go. They’ll go. We’ll pursue the battle until that goal is achieved, and we give a different future for Gaza and for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cameron said he wanted to come to Israel in person and go to the sites of the country and go to Kibbutz Be’eri to see just the true nature of the horrific attacks that Israel faced.
He said: “I think it’s very important to do that and see that. And, you know, we stand with the people of Israel in sympathy for what you have gone through. I think that was important.”
The UK Foreign Secretary on Thursday arrived in Israel for an official visit.
On Thursday morning, the UK Foreign Secretary visited Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities affected by the October 7 terror attack on Israel.
“This morning, together with @elicoh1, I visited Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities affected by the appalling terror attack Israel suffered on 7 October. I wanted to come here to see it for myself; I have heard and seen things I will never forget,” Cameron wrote on ‘X’.
He said: “Today is also a day where we hope to see progress on the humanitarian pause. This is a crucial opportunity to get hostages out and aid into Gaza, to help Palestinian civilians who are facing a growing humanitarian crisis.”
Earlier, the UK Foreign Secretary welcomed the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas — which paves for the release of the first group of 50 Israeli hostages — and urged all parties to ensure that the agreement is delivered in full.
Calling it a “crucial step”, the former UK Prime Minister said that the pause provides an important opportunity to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by making greater volumes of food, fuel and other life-saving aid reach the conflict-hit region.
Cameron chaired a meeting of Arab and Islamic leaders in London on the situation in Israel and Gaza.
“This agreement is a crucial step towards providing relief to the families of the hostages and addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Cameron said in a statement.
“I urge all parties to ensure the agreement is delivered in full. Of course, we want to see all hostages released immediately and families affected by the horrors of the October 7th terror attack reunited,” he added.
He further said that UK has doubled its commitment to Palestinians and will continue to work to secure the release of all hostages, restoration of security and reach a “long-term political solution” to the conflict.
“This pause provides an important opportunity to ensure much greater volumes of food, fuel and other life-saving aid can reach Gaza on a sustained basis. We have already doubled our aid commitment to Palestinians this year and will work closely with the UN to ensure it reaches those who need it,” the statement read.
It added, “The UK will continue to work with all partners in the region to secure the release of all hostages, restore security and reach a long-term political solution which enables both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace.”
The deal set to unfold, as detailed by Israel’s cabinet, would trade 50 living Israeli hostages — children, their mothers, and other women in groups of 12-13 people — for a four-day lull in fighting and the release of up to 150 Palestinian female and underage prisoners. It is a first since the ongoing war started after the October 7 attacks, Times of Israel reported.
If the deal is successfully completed, it would be the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the war erupted last month.
According to the deal, if Hamas is able to locate additional hostages who are either minors or female non-combatants to release, the deal can be extended to up to 10 days, with one extra day’s pause in the fighting for every 10 hostages released. Three additional Palestinian prisoners would be released for each hostage freed.
Times of Israel reported citing Israeli estimates that Hamas holds a total of 98 women and children, 40 of whom are under the age of 19. At first, Hamas had more than 100 living women and children, but after the murders of Yehudit Weiss and Noa Marciano in captivity, that number dropped. In addition, the terror group released four women, and a fifth was liberated in an Israeli military operation. (ANI)
