Raz Ben-Ami, a former Israeli captive in Gaza, has urgently called upon the Netanyahu government to strike an exchange deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" in Gaza following revelations that three Israeli captives were killed by the Israeli military's gunfire during its advance in the sector.
In statements to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Ben-Ami asserted that the death of the three from Israeli military gunfire in Gaza City confirms that the captives were right in warning the war council that the fighting could harm them.
Ben-Ami urged Benjamin Netanyahu's government to propose a deal that would see the return of the captives in Gaza, emphasizing that their return in exchange for Palestinian prisoners is an "urgent and crucial" matter.
Ben-Ami, whose husband is still held in Gaza, said she is waiting to hear a detailed proposal for an exchange deal from the war council—the small government leading the aggression in Gaza. She questioned what the war council is waiting for and whether it is waiting for the families of the captives to receive one body after another.
Haaretz also reported on Eitai Chen's father, a captive Israeli, who claimed that meeting the American president is easier than meeting with the war council, pointing to the difficulty of communicating with the council still adhering to the option of war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that military pressure is necessary to bring back the captives and achieve victory in the war. In a press conference, he indicated that he had informed the Israeli negotiators that military pressure aids negotiations for the return of the captives.
Israeli War Council member Benny Gantz considered that the army is engaged in a difficult, complex, and painful war and should be given time to complete its tasks. Gantz, in a joint press conference with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, added that despite the war's difficulty, the government is determined to continue it to return all the captives.
The killing of three Israeli captives in Gaza by their own army's gunfire evoked angry reactions in Israel. Jonathan Conricus, the Israeli military spokesman, stated that the incident "shook the military to its core." In an interview with CNN, he added that the soldiers who fired the shots acted in violation of the rules of engagement, but suspected that the cause might be due to "fatigue and stress," in his words.
