September 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Hostage Families Forum, the main organisation that brings together the relatives of those kidnapped by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) since 7 October, has expressed its outright opposition to the possible appointment of Gideon Saar as the new Israeli Defence Minister, replacing Yaov Gallant.
“The appointment of Gideon Saar as Defense Minister will be a clear and unequivocal confession by the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) that he has finally decided to neglect the hostages,” the organization said on its social networks on a day marked by rumors of a possible reshuffle in the Defense portfolio.
According to the Forum of Families of Hostages, Saar has repeatedly expressed his opposition to reaching an agreement with Hamas, as he believes that entering into negotiations with the Palestinian militia for the release of the hostages would imply giving in to its demands.
However, the group of relatives has insisted that the military operation in the Gaza Strip has only resulted in the death of “dozens of kidnapped people.” “Just two weeks ago we buried six more kidnapped people who were killed as a result of military pressure,” they lamented.
In this context, the Families Forum questions whether Saar, who is openly in favour of continuing the military offensive in Gaza, “is the right person to lead the security system. In this situation, they consider that his appointment as Minister of Defence would be “the signing of the death penalty for the hostages.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu, this is not the time to play musical chairs and deal with political survival,” said the Forum of the Families of Hostages, which also called for a rally tonight in front of Saar’s home in Tel Aviv.
Saar is currently the leader of the New Hope party, a right-wing Zionist party opposed to Netanyahu’s government. Saar briefly served as deputy prime minister between June 2021 and December 2022; before that he had been minister of justice, and years before that minister of the interior and education in previous governments of his now rival Netanyahu.
Hamas launched an offensive against Israeli territory in early October last year, which left almost 1,200 dead and more than 240 hostages. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) then launched a bloody military campaign in the Gaza Strip in response, which has already claimed the lives of more than 41,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Since then, the parties have only reached an agreement on the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners at the end of last year. Israeli operations have in most cases resulted in the rescue of the hostages’ lifeless bodies, sparking criticism from relatives.
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