The Embassy of The State of Israel in Sofia distributed the following statement, BGNES News Agency is posting "as is" and with no editorial correections:
Return of Hostages: Statement by the Government of Israel and Statement by PM Netanyahu
21 NOVEMBER 2023
The Government has approved the outline according to which at least 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held.
Statement by the Government of Israel:
The Government of Israel is obligated to return home all of the hostages. Tonight, the Government has approved the outline of the first stage of achieving this goal, according to which at least 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held. The release of every additional ten hostages will result in one additional day in the pause.
The Government of Israel, the IDF and the security services will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.
Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
PM Netanyahu: The war will continue until we achieve all of our goals – eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and assuring that the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer threaten Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Tuesday, 21 November 2023), at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, at the start of the Government meeting [translated from Hebrew]:
"Citizens of Israel and Government ministers, good evening. While this meeting is to discuss the return of our hostages, I would like to start with something that should be self-evident. There is a lot of nonsense out there to the effect that after the pause to return our hostages, we will stop the war. Then let me make it clear: We are at war – and will continue the war. We will continue the war until we achieve all of our war aims: To eliminate Hamas, return all of our hostages and our missing, and ensure that there is no element in Gaza that threatens Israel.
Yesterday evening, I met, together with the members of the War Cabinet, members of the hostages' families. I listened closely to their plight. With shaking voices, sometimes in tears, they described the nightmare they are in. I told the dear families: 'Returning our hostages is a sacred and supreme task – and I am obligated to it together with my colleagues. As Maimonides says: There is no greater precept that redeeming captives.
We will not relent in our efforts until we redeem them all, until we return them all, the boys and girls, the mothers and fathers, the young men and women, the elderly men and women, the male and female soldiers, all of them. In war there are stages, and in returning the hostages there are stages, but we will not relent until we achieve the absolute victory and until we bring them all back. This is my sacred duty, of all of us.
In recent days, I have spoken with our friend, US President Joe Biden and I requested his intervention in order to improve the outline that will be presented to you. Indeed, it has been improved to include more hostages and at a lower cost. These talks have been productive. President Biden joined in the effort and I thank him for it. Before you this evening, now, is a difficult decision but it is the correct decision. All of the security agencies fully support it; they have made it completely clear in their professional assessment, that the security of our forces will be ensured during the pause and that the intelligence effort will be maintained in those days. They have made it clear that not only will the war effort not be harmed, it will enable the IDF to prepare for the continuation of the fighting.
I would like to reiterate: The war is continuing and the war will continue until we achieve all of our goals – Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and assuring that the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer threaten Israel, that there will be no other element that supports terrorism, educates its children for terrorism and threatens the State of Israel. With G-d's help, we will do it and we will succeed – and together we will win."
/BGNES
