Despite a report on Army Radio which seemed to imply that IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir had changed his position regarding how to handle the situation of 200 Hamas fighters trapped in a tunnel in the currently Israeli-controlled portion of Gaza. The Jerusalem Post has learned that there is no change in his position.
The report said that Zamir preferred to kill the 200 Hamas fighters, but that he would agree to allow them to move safely to Hamas held areas of Gaza if all deceased hostages bodies', including that of Hadar Goldin, were returned to Israel (meaning all bodies that are recoverable, since expectations are that 3-6 may not be recoverable.)
Rather, Zamir has never made his position on the issue fully public, only providing it to the security cabinet in a classified setting.
What seemed to be a "new" statement by Zamir was in fact what he told the cabinet days ago when the issue arose.
This dovetails with a recent report by the Post that Zamir would not block a deal to allow the Hamas fighters to move with immunity into Hamas controlled portions of Gaza.
The report did not get into all of the nuances
That report did not get into all of the nuances of what Zamir preferred and what conditions he preferred for such a deal, but the bottom line also was that Zamir would not block a deal negotiated by the government and was open to a deal in certain circumstances.
At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pushing for a deal where the Hamas forces would give up their weapons in exchange for safe passage.
However, after he was attacked by both coalition and opposition officials, he reversed and turned against a deal.