Galant: The exchange deal enhances national interests and we will know how to overcome the risks

“Even in these hours, when IDF fighters are working to eliminate the movement of the factions, it is our duty to return the abductees to their homes. This is a moral imperative imposed on us, and it is a declared goal of the war,” he said at a graduation ceremony at the National Security College.

“The decisive action taken by the security services has created the conditions for the return of the kidnapped soldiers. We have a limited opportunity to fulfill our moral and ethical duty,” he added, noting that “the conditions that will arise as a result of the agreement will enhance our national and security interests, while the IDF and security forces know how to overcome the risks that may arise.”

Earlier today, Galant indicated that Israel is prepared to partially withdraw its forces from the Philadelphi Corridor and reopen the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, stressing the need to “prevent attempts to smuggle weapons, and not allow the movement of factions to return to the Rafah crossing,” as part of a possible prisoner exchange deal and ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

During a meeting between Galant and the US President’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Brett McGurk, according to what the Israeli Ministry of Defense said in a statement issued today, “Galant met with McGurk and discussed the need to exploit the available opportunity to reach an agreement to return the hostages and possible ways to resolve the remaining gaps.”

The statement added that Galant discussed with the American envoy “the progress of the dialogue between Israel and Egypt, led by the United States, regarding (efforts to reach) a solution that prevents attempts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, according to the plan presented by the Minister of Security at the beginning of the war and discussed between the two sides.”

Galant said that “Israel is prepared to open the Rafah crossing, but it will not allow Hamas to return to the site.” He also expressed his “appreciation for envoy McGurk, and thanked the US administration for standing by Israel in pushing for the return of the hostages and achieving the goals of the war” that it has been waging on the Gaza Strip with US support since October 7.

Source: RT