Adviser to Israeli PM says 'military pressure' on Hamas will bring hostages home

Record ID: 1985105

  • Title: Adviser to Israeli PM says 'military pressure' on Hamas will bring hostages home
  • Date: 22nd March 2025
  • Summary: KFAR HA'ORANIM SETTLEMENT, WEST BANK (MARCH 22, 2025) (REUTERS) FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, OPHIR FALK, WALKING INTO INTERVIEW AND TAKING SEAT (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, OPHIR FALK, SAYING: "Well, we'll do whatever it takes to get our civilians back home, to get back al
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Benjamin Netanyahu Gaza Hamas Hezbollah Israel Lebanon Palestinians aid ceasefire foreign policy adviser hostages interview prime minister
  • Location: KFAR HA'ORANIM SETTLEMENT, WEST BANK
  • City: KFAR HA'ORANIM SETTLEMENT, WEST BANK
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001089722032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Israel is applying "military pressure" on Hamas in an effort to bring home the remaining hostages in Gaza, the chief foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview on Saturday (March 22).
    "The only reason they went back to the negotiation table was military pressure. And that's what we're doing right now," Ophir Falk said, four days after Israel effectively abandoned the two-month-old truce by intensifying its air, land and sea strikes on the Gaza strip.
    Falk added that Israel "embraced" U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff's 'bridge' plan which aims to extend the ceasefire into April, and claimed without evidence that Hamas had refused the proposal.
    Separately, Falk said he expects Lebanon to uphold its end of a shaky truce that ended a year-long war between Israel and armed group Hezbollah, after Israeli artillery and airstrikes hit south Lebanon on Saturday following an interception of rockets fired from across the border.
    He added that the Israeli army will "do whatever it takes to enforce the ceasefire and to make sure that our civilians can get back home safely and securely."
    (Production: Rami Amichay, Lion Schellerer)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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