The Gaza deal agreement between Israel and Hamas is a major achievement for the State of Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
The deal, signed earlier on Thursday and set to be ratified by the Israeli government, states all living hostages will be released and the bodies of deceased captives returned by Monday.
“I have always said that we have clear objectives in this war, and we prefer to achieve them through diplomatic means if that is possible,” said Sa’ar.
“For a long period, that was impossible, because Hamas insisted on preconditions that would have prevented us from reaching our military goals.”
Sa'ar, a member of the Security Cabinet, emphasized the difference between this agreement and previous proposals: “This deal disproves the long-standing claim that there is a contradiction between our war objectives and the release of the hostages - that you can’t both free all the captives and eliminate the Hamas threat. All of these goals are included in the Trump Plan - and our aim is to achieve them.”
Claims Gaza deal could have been reached months ago 'false'
Sa’ar firmly rejected claims that an identical deal for the hostages could have been reached months ago. “That’s simply not true,” he said. “At that time, Hamas demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war - conditions that would have made achieving our objectives impossible.
By contrast, under the current agreement, phase one will begin while the IDF remains in control of more than half of the Gaza Strip, even as the hostages return home. This fulfills our moral duty to bring them back - families who have endured unimaginable suffering.”
According to the foreign minister, there is no doubt that Israel’s military actions increased pressure on Hamas - and that the Arab world also intensified its own pressure. He credited US President Donald Trump for recognizing and seizing the opportunity:
“Trump absolutely deserves the Nobel Peace Prize,” Sa’ar said. “I can’t recall a president - or any individual - who has contributed so much to resolving conflicts and ending wars. He not only knew how to seize opportunities, but also how to create them.”
Sa’ar gave an example: “Take Hamas’s most recent response. Anyone reading it might have said, ‘This is a yes - but with conditions.’ Trump focused on the ‘yes’, and that approach ultimately led to the deal.”
In recent months, international pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza has intensified. This included sanctions against the state and individual Israelis, and in some cases, arms embargoes. Now, Sa’ar says, Israel hopes these measures will be reversed.
“This morning I spoke with the German foreign minister,” Sa’ar revealed, “and expressed my hope that following the deal and the ceasefire, Germany will lift its recent arms embargo imposed due to the Gaza war. We’re also working with other countries to do the same.”
He added that the Foreign Ministry under his leadership successfully blocked new sanctions that several European nations sought to impose through the EU - and, despite global pressure, Israel managed to open three new embassies around the world.
Sa’ar said that since Israel accepted the Trump Plan, there has been renewed international interest in engaging with Israel. “This morning alone we received numerous messages from European foreign ministers expressing a desire to open a new chapter,” he said.
However, one dispute remains unresolved. Sa’ar sharply criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to host a meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Thursday to discuss Gaza’s reconstruction and the two-state solution.
“Israel will not accept attempts to internationalize the conflict or dictate terms over its head,” he warned.
'A new chapter in the Abraham Accords'
Concluding on an optimistic note, Sa’ar said he believes there is real potential to expand the Abraham Accords and establish new normalization agreements between Israel and Arab or Muslim states.
“The very fact that, despite such a difficult war and its impact on public opinion in Arab countries, no Arab state broke off relations with Israel is a significant achievement,” he said. “It shows that maintaining ties with Israel is in their interest. Now, after the attack on Iran, I hope we can open a new chapter with our existing partners and bring additional countries into the Abraham Accords.”