Hirsch also expressed shock over some aspects of the public pressure campaign inside Israel for a deal, characterizing protests as a result of Hamas\u2019s \u201cvery effective propaganda,\u201d which he said was amplified at the rallies.<\/p>\n
\u201cHamas acted to create a rift in Israeli society through very effective propaganda \u2014 and by creating the reverse picture \u2014 although they were stalling and not wanting to progress in negotiations and torpedoing deals, they pinned responsibility on us, that we were torpedoing negotiations and deals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pressure on Israel from the Joe Biden administration and other Western allies convinced Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar that he could stretch hostage negotiations for years, government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch told The Times of Israel.<\/p>\n
He also lamented some aspects of the weekly hostages protests in Tel Aviv, saying they \u201camplified\u201d Hamas propaganda in a way that \u201cshocked\u201d him.<\/p>\n
The charge, which was included in interviews with Hirsch published by other Israeli outlets over the weekend, sparked a firestorm of criticism from families of former hostages, including Einav Zangauker, the firebrand mother of released hostage Matan Zangauker.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucky that President Trump thought differently, and thanks to him and thanks to our wonderful people who went out to fight for our values and didn\u2019t give up, Matan is here at home,\u201d she wrote on X Saturday. \u201cNetanyahu\u2019s floor rag continues the campaign of lies and rewriting history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related: \u2018Shame on you\u2019: Former hostage, families hit back at government\u2019s captives point man<\/a><\/p>\n Yet as Hirsch described his two-plus years leading the hostage effort, his efforts to connect to the families of the hostages stood out. He made a point of mentioning family members \u2014 not only parents, but also siblings and children \u2014 by name, pulling them easily from memory.<\/p>\n \t The hostage issue touches all Israelis, but it seems to hit a particular nerve with the grizzled paratrooper. While Hirsch was 91st Division commander in 2006, Hezbollah killed and abducted two reservists from his sector, sparking the Second Lebanon War. He resigned from the IDF under criticism from a commission of inquiry, but many senior officers came to his defense, leading to his return to active duty in 2012.<\/p>\n In 2016, the Netanyahu ally was nominated to be police commissioner; the bid was eventually dropped over graft suspicions, though the cases were later closed.<\/p>\n Hirsch was a businessman, university lecturer, and family man before the October 7 Hamas-led attack. He put that life on hold to accept the mission of leading Israel\u2019s efforts to locate and bring back its hostages, well before Israel even knew how many people Hamas was holding.<\/p>\n After the initial shock of Israel\u2019s ground operation in Gaza in October 2023, Hamas was desperate for a hostage release-for-ceasefire deal, said Hirsch, resulting in the short November ceasefire in which 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners were freed.<\/p>\n \t However, talks failed to progress over the subsequent year, despite efforts by Hirsch\u2019s team with the help of the US, Qatar and Egypt. Hirsch firmly rejected assertions<\/a> made by former IDF negotiating team member Oren Setter that Israel missed opportunities for hostage deals in March and July 2024.<\/p>\n He stressed repeatedly that Sinwar was the main roadblock in reaching a deal. That began to change, argued Hirsch, when Israel assassinated<\/a> Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024 and defeated the Shiite group in Lebanon, then killed<\/a> Sinwar the next month in Rafah.<\/p>\n He also argued that the failed September 2025 strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar ended up pushing Hamas toward a deal: \u201cIt\u2019s clear to all of us that the fact Hamas understood it wasn\u2019t immune anywhere, and the mediators understood Israel\u2019s long arm reached everywhere, had a clear effect on achieving the deal and the return of all.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Hirsch praised the work of US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, calling them \u201cvery effective.\u201d<\/p>\n The reservist general said that Hamas has no choice now other than giving up its arms, and that \u201cit understands Israel\u2019s resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Gvili\u2019s return marked the first time since 2014 that no Israeli hostages were being held inside Gaza, Hirsch said his mission of recovering captives is not over yet, while declining to say more.<\/p>\n The following interview has been translated, and lightly edited for brevity and clarity.<\/p>\n The Times of Israel: Before October 7, what was your approach to previous hostage deals like the ones that freed Gilad Shalit and Elhanan Tannenbaum? How do you approach the question of future cost versus saving the lives of one or two people?<\/p>\n Gal Hirsch: My position before the war \u2014 and it sharpened even more over the past two and a half years \u2014 is that in the hostage realm, three parallel actions must occur. The first is prevention, ensuring a hostage event doesn\u2019t happen, that there won\u2019t be an abduction, and making sure Israelis don\u2019t enter places they\u2019re forbidden to enter through public information and law enforcement.<\/p>\n The second is deterrence \u2014 clarifying the cost of kidnapping and that we won\u2019t compromise on it, and that abductions will carry a different scale and kind of price.<\/p>\n The third is crisis management of a kidnapping.<\/p>\n If it already happened, I separate between my stance as an Israeli citizen and as a senior officer \u2014 a public figure \u2014 and the practical aspects of negotiation. I have always seen the fact that Israel is willing to pay heavy prices for our people as saying something about Israeli society and the State of Israel: that every Israeli is precious beyond measure.<\/p>\n \t Even though we know we\u2019re taking massive risks.<\/p>\n Hirsch: Absolutely. I made it clear over the years \u2014 by the way, to the hostage families who sat here with me, to returning captives, and of course to decision-makers \u2014 I told them, listen, I\u2019m aware that people walking here on the street below, under my headquarters \u2014 some of them are dead men walking. Meaning, we\u2019re releasing murderers, significant percentages of whom return to murder, and we simply have to \u2014 if we failed and our people were abducted \u2014 we must improve our prevention and deterrence, but we still have to rescue people.<\/p>\n I\u2019m aware that people walking here on the street below, under my headquarters \u2014 some of them are dead men walking<\/p>\n Because what bonds Israeli society \u2014 the glue, the cohesion \u2014 is the fact that all the individuals, comprising over 10 million people, each one knows that Israel will fight for him. It will go to Entebbe; it will go to Burgas. If there\u2019s an earthquake it will go to Kathmandu to extract Israelis; it will go to Antalya to pull Shiran Franco<\/a> from the rubble. Israel will go anywhere to get Israelis out. It\u2019s the only country in the world that acts like this, willing to pay heavy prices and risk people to bring people home. That glue is a guarantee of Israel\u2019s strength in the years ahead.<\/p>\n \t But it didn\u2019t work in the decade before October 7. In 2014 we had four captives in Gaza. The country didn\u2019t rise up. The Goldin family marched<\/a> to the Gaza border, a\u00a0 few hundred people joined; it wasn\u2019t a big deal.<\/p>\n The results speak for themselves. Four hostages \u2014 Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, Hisham Al-Sayed, and Avera Mengistu \u2014 were there for over a decade. That\u2019s a failure. We can\u2019t call it anything else. It\u2019s a failure. And the fact that Gilad Shalit was abducted \u2014 the abduction itself is a failure. And the fact he was returned after more than five years is a failure. That is not a satisfactory outcome from my point of view.<\/p>\n The way we were able to get the four hostages who were there before October 7 was only through the moves we took after October 7.<\/p>\n And by the way, I called those families to me in the first days of my tenure and told them: Look, I still don\u2019t know how many hostages I have in the Gaza Strip\u2014because I didn\u2019t. I knew I had about 3,200 missing on day one, and many hostages\u2014 I didn\u2019t know how many. But I called those families and said, I want you to know that as far as I\u2019m concerned, I\u2019m responsible for them and I will bring them back.<\/p>\n \t It\u2019s not that now I\u2019m only dealing with the newly kidnapped. I called the Goldin family \u2014 Simcha and Leah. I called Avera Mengistu\u2019s mother Agurnesh, and spoke with the Shaul family \u2014 with Zehava and brothers Ofek and Aviram\u2014and told them, I will bring your loved ones home. I don\u2019t know how long it will take. I want you to know that as far as I\u2019m concerned, they\u2019re now within the Gaza hostages mission.<\/p>\n What was the prime minister\u2019s state when you met with him about your role? Was there panic, did he take command?\u00a0<\/p>\n Hirsch: Three things I can say. He was very focused on my mission, he clarified what he wanted from me. We spoke, he received updates, and I saw a calmness, an aggregation of a lot of information and a situational picture \u2014 like the eye of the hurricane, quiet in the heart of the storm.<\/p>\n \t I saw, and this impressed me, that on the day I arrived \u2014 it\u2019s already October 8 \u2014 he was already starting to execute tasks for \u201cthe day after,\u201d meaning he was already checking how to organize Gaza for the day after Hamas is destroyed. There was a wait. I go in to see him, and after me another figure comes in and already receives tasks on the day-after issue. That\u2019s October 8, 2023.<\/p>\n How long did it take you to assemble the list of how many hostages we had?<\/p>\n Hirsch: On my first day in the job \u2014 there were about 3,200 missing.<\/p>\n Later, after several weeks, we settled on around 400 hostages and missing. There was constant pressure on me to say how many hostages Israel had. I refused to give that figure because I knew we had some missing whose whereabouts were unknown. I clarified to all the parties I coordinated that we would not state as a country how many hostages we had until we knew about the missing \u2014 because for anyone I would call \u201cmissing,\u201d Hamas would say: correct, missing, look for them on your side \u2014 and they would make them disappear. So I waited until I had certainty.<\/p>\n The number reached 257 at the start of December, including the four who were already there before. The number I stated officially for the first time in early December \u2014 257 hostages \u2014 was a mistake. I was wrong, because I didn\u2019t yet know that we would find Dolev Yehoud<\/a>, of blessed memory, and Elyakim Libman <\/a>\u2014 we ended up finding them in Israel. Once they were located, we knew the number was 255.<\/p>\n \t Bringing in Egypt as mediator is understandable. Did you have concerns or objections about bringing in Qatar, which became the main mediator most of the time?<\/p>\n Hirsch: Right as I entered the role, the Americans contacted me and passed along communication channels to the Qatari prime minister.<\/p>\n They demanded Qatar be included?<\/p>\n Hirsch: They simply told me the Qataris were interested in mediating and helping return the hostages, and gave me his phone number.<\/p>\n The Qatari prime minister passed me his point man \u2014 his chief negotiator \u2014 and I spoke with him, he spoke with me, there were exchanges.<\/p>\n I asked how I could even know he could deliver. He said, okay general, tell me what you need. I said, show me reliable proof. He asked, what is reliable proof?<\/p>\n I said, I want you to get a hostage out \u2014 show me you can do that. Then I\u2019ll see how it happens \u2014 how it\u2019s coordinated with you, on the ground, how I receive them \u2014 show me. He said okay.<\/p>\n \t After those talks, it was clear that just as the Shin Bet had a comparative advantage with the Egyptians, the Mossad had a comparative advantage with the Qataris. So after I set up this track, [Mossad chief David Barnea] worked with the Qataris, [Shin Bet chief] Ronen Bar worked with the Egyptians, Nitzan [Alon] worked on intelligence, and we began working on a trial run [for a release].<\/p>\n When I saw the plan for the trial was coming together, [Defense Minister Yoav Gallant] okayed it and agreed to carry it out the trial. I ran to the prime minister and got approval to carry out the pilot.<\/p>\n After we finished coordinating within our foursome, [Barnea], Ronen, Nitzan, and me \u2014 I went down to the Gaza border area and tried [the plan]. The first night didn\u2019t work. All the coordination failed to bring us the hostages.<\/p>\n This was before the ground operation, because at that stage we insisted on \u201chostages before maneuver\u201d \u2014 to exhaust the chance to get hostages out and understand where they were and focus on locations.<\/p>\n \t The first night didn\u2019t succeed, the second did. I received <\/a>\u2014 through the Kerem Shalom area \u2014 Judith and Natalie Raanan.<\/p>\n The Sayeret Matkal [commando unit] linked up with a Red Cross jeep carrying them, guided it, etcetera.<\/p>\n I got into the vehicle and said, Hello, my name is Gal \u2014 I\u2019m happy to see you. I went with them to a secure compound because it was an active combat environment, then moved them to medical checks and debriefs, then to the Hatzor base.<\/p>\n A few days later, we got out<\/a> \u2014 via Egypt \u2014 Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper.<\/p>\n \t Those were the first four female hostages released in October, and on October 26 the IDF ground maneuver started. Six divisions began operating on the ground.<\/p>\n This caused great anxiety among families, everyone ran to me \u2014 \u201chow are you maneuvering over our loved ones and risking their lives?\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of that month, on the very last day of October, a rescue operation brought back<\/a> Ori Megidish \u2014 a special Shin Bet operation.<\/p>\n Why weren\u2019t there, in the first days, while they were being moved around, operations on the ground to find and rescue hostages?<\/p>\n Hirsch: There were various operations, but our intelligence picture wasn\u2019t sufficient yet. We learned over that period; an intelligence picture began forming.<\/p>\n Remember our state after the October 7 attack \u2014 in the first days there were still terrorists inside our territory, initial IDF operations, strikes in the Gaza Strip. To conduct actual hostage rescues of that kind, you need to build an intelligence picture. It took time.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s talk about the first ceasefire in November 2023. How did it come together? Was it due to military pressure on Hamas \u2014 they wanted some breathing space?<\/p>\n Hirsch: Hamas was in shock that the IDF began a substantial ground invasion.\u00a0 They thought it would be like Operation Protective Edge with limited operations.<\/p>\n \t But once a combined incursion of six divisions across almost the entire Gaza Strip happened, Hamas was in shock and was almost willing to pay any price to stop us \u2014 to blunt the force of the maneuver, to see where the IDF had reached, to reorganize, recover, move commanders, move hostages. Hence their willingness for a ceasefire and to return hostages.<\/p>\n All the stories I heard later \u2014 that they wanted to get rid of a burden or shed kids and women \u2014 those are lies.<\/p>\n We presented a list of 97 \u2014 women and children and all the foreign nationals \u2014 but that\u2019s not what happened in practice. The agreement in the negotiations was that 50 would be released, and the prime minister insisted to Biden that he was willing to grant more ceasefire days for another 10 each day. That\u2019s how we reached 81 released Israelis \u2014 80 women and children and one man \u2014 and 24 foreign hostages, so in effect 105 were released in the November deal, five women were released or rescued in October. By the end of November, 110 hostages were home.<\/p>\n \t Why didn\u2019t it continue? Ten hostages for each day of a ceasefire is excellent.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hamas stopped it. Hamas told us it couldn\u2019t return the remaining 17 women and two children. They said they didn\u2019t have them. We knew they were lying and that they did have them.<\/p>\n There were tough discussions on how to proceed, because [proceeding without the 17 hostages], letting them disappear them, created a big dilemma [for us], and the deal fell apart.<\/p>\n \t We could not allow that, given intelligence that they wanted to drag negotiations out for 10 years. That was Sinwar\u2019s mindset until he was eliminated.<\/p>\n All the stories that we didn\u2019t want to advance a deal \u2014 those are fairy tales and lies<\/p>\n Therefore, all the stories that we didn\u2019t want to advance a deal \u2014 those are fairy tales and lies. The side that constantly canceled and delayed a deal within a 10-year negotiation strategy was Hamas.\n<\/p>\n The change came when he was eliminated and Nasrallah was eliminated; the Iranian axis suffered; the Syrian army was destroyed; the Houthis were hit hard; the Iranians got the hint; in the West Bank we carried out effective actions; and we were in a deep maneuver inside Gaza.<\/p>\n At that stage, we began to understand Hamas was shifting toward a deal because it understood it had nothing to build on. Until then, Hamas\u2019s strategy was to exploit the political fallout of October 7 to derive political gains.<\/p>\n \t Unfortunately, it exploited the daylight between us and the US, the UN\u2019s activity against us, Security Council moves against us, European states\u2019 activity against us, the embargo against us. From his perspective, Sinwar said, we can continue.<\/p>\n Moreover, they were trying to reignite the Middle East, generate another offensive on Israel from [the West Bank], drag in Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis \u2014 to create a second pincer. All this while we were being criticized here that we were torpedoing deals. We understood Hamas was trying to disappear hostages and hold them long-term. So of course we couldn\u2019t agree to something like, \u201cWe don\u2019t have them \u2014 move on.\u201d<\/p>\n On December 5 you have the Shejaiya incident, the killing<\/a> of three hostages by Israeli forces. Can you talk a bit about it?<\/p>\n Hirsch: It\u2019s awful.<\/p>\n It reached me from the field, in fragmented reports one after another. First \u2014 there\u2019s some incident with hostages in the northern Strip \u2014 okay, give me details. Then \u2014 it\u2019s possible that in some operation a hostage was killed. I asked, who?<\/p>\n Then \u2014 a hostage\u2019s body was recovered. Then, two. Then, three. I asked, how?<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t understand what happened, because it was during the ground push. Then it became clear \u2014 each time I reported to the prime minister \u2014 we tried to form a picture, and we understood they were killed by friendly fire. First that they were killed, and that it was our fire. It was a terrible sense of breakdown \u2014 an immense tragedy.<\/p>\n \t You spoke with the three families?<\/p>\n Hirsch: Of course. Look, when I took on the hostage mission, I took it upon myself to be \u201cthe state\u201d in front of the many Israeli citizens for whom the state failed \u2014and they\u2019re right. The state failed to protect their loved ones, no doubt about it. I took it on myself to be the state constantly before them.<\/p>\n I was the point man, so to speak, and I had to explain to hostage families what happened, why, what the government\u2019s policy is, what\u2019s happening in the negotiations, what I\u2019m doing, what my colleagues in the Mossad, Shin Bet, IDF, NSC are doing, what\u2019s happening in the cabinet, what the government is doing.<\/p>\n I had to constantly be the interface \u2014 to the public, to hostage families, to international media, to many diplomatic actors. Don\u2019t forget 28 countries were involved \u2014 because the hostages weren\u2019t only from Israel. Some were dual nationals, some foreign workers, some students. I had to work here \u2014 in this living room and elsewhere in the area under fire, running to shelters, countless meetings with ambassadors, diplomats, special envoys from different states, different families; calls to Thailand, the Philippines, countless places.<\/p>\n As Israel returned to all-out war, tensions grew with the Biden administration in early 2024 around plans to invade Rafah in the south of the Strip.<\/p>\n Hirsch: I went to the Munich Security Conference in February 2024. I said there, on camera, that we\u2019re entering Rafah, because it\u2019s Hamas\u2019s last redoubt that hadn\u2019t been attacked, because we had many hostages there, and because we had to apply pressure.<\/p>\n [After we opened up the Netzarim Corridor to movement by Gazans between the north and south of the Strip without getting hostages in return, I told Netanyahu] \u201cFine, but let\u2019s create an alternative bargaining chip.\u201d<\/p>\n \t For me it was clear we needed to move toward Rafah to apply pressure there, to have another bargaining chip given the concession in the north. In February I\u2019m already saying this on camera. I know the prime minister understands we need to enter Rafah \u2014 he insists on it, he\u2019s working on it \u2014 but we had heavy pressure with the Biden administration. When did we enter Rafah?<\/p>\n In May.<\/p>\n Hirsch: May 7. Not all of Rafah \u2014 May 7 we took the Rafah Crossing. It took us another week or two to enter the city and control the area and close the Philadelphi Corridor [along the Egyptian border]. For me it\u2019s a pressure move. I understand that without effective military pressure, hostages will not return. No other way will work.<\/p>\n \t Did you see any impact of the rift widening between Biden and Netanyahu on the negotiations?<\/p>\n Hirsch: The night I heard about the embargo [on some US supplied munitions] \u2014 or \u201cdon\u2019t you dare enter Rafah\u201d \u2014 I had a call with a very senior American while driving in the middle of the night from Jerusalem down here [to Bnei Brak]. It was a very tough call.<\/p>\n Do you understand you\u2019re screwing up the negotiations? You\u2019re giving Sinwar exactly what he wants<\/p>\n I told him, bluntly \u2014 I don\u2019t usually speak this way \u2014 what are you doing? You have American hostages there. Israeli-American citizens. Do you understand you\u2019re screwing up the negotiations? You\u2019re giving Sinwar exactly what he wants.\n<\/p>\n From [Sinwar\u2019s] perspective any daylight advances his political strategy from the October 7 attack to generate political gains \u2014 you are doing that now.<\/p>\n Very tough conversations, with American and other global actors, Europeans and others.<\/p>\n \t I know the Hamas strategy is 10 years of negotiations. I know the strategy is to create a second front and produce another war. I know the desire is to bring Iran and Hezbollah into the war, and the Houthis.<\/p>\n I know that in order to shut down this option for Sinwar, the world needed to stand with us like it did in the first month of the war. Unfortunately in December 2023 everything flipped on us and the daylight widened.<\/p>\n Sinwar says, \u201cExcellent.\u201d<\/p>\n [Hamas political chief Ismail] Haniyeh goes to visit Iran before he was eliminated, and says that Israel isn\u2019t meeting any of its aims, and its best friends don\u2019t agree with it and act against it.<\/p>\n \t That gives Hamas a lot of tailwind and the understanding there\u2019s no need to hurry negotiations \u2014 no need to hurry returning hostages.<\/p>\n Do you think the protests inside of Israel also gave Hamas hope?<\/p>\n Hirsch: Without a doubt, Hamas acted to create a rift in Israeli society through very effective propaganda. And by creating the reverse picture \u2014 although they were stalling and not wanting to progress in negotiations and torpedoing deals, they pinned responsibility on us, that we were torpedoing negotiations and deals.<\/p>\n It was very effective propaganda that called the Israeli public to demonstrations. Every Saturday afternoon, [Hamas released] a video of a hostage calling for protests, to take to the streets. One hostage even called for a general strike by the Histadrut [labor union]. [In the videos, hostages made calls] for those released to go on TV to explain [their plight] to the public.<\/p>\n \t The way Hamas messages were received here in Israel and amplified was shocking.<\/p>\n How did the May 2025 Biden ceasefire proposal come about and why didn\u2019t it succeed?\u00a0<\/p>\n Hirsch: On April 26, I also remove my objection to opening the Netzarim Corridor, and we present an offer to the other side.<\/p>\n On May 6 at 8 p.m., we get a response via the Egyptians from Hamas that they don\u2019t even have the number of living hostages we want in the humanitarian deal, and they\u2019ll make it up with bodies.<\/p>\n \t We send them back their own proposal of May 6 with slight improvements \u2014 to see if Hamas even wants a deal. Then it\u2019s translated into the May 27 proposal, which is translated into Biden\u2019s statement, and goes through the Security Council.<\/p>\n When does Hamas respond<\/a>? Only on June 11, Shavuot eve. What do they respond with? Over 20 amendments to their own proposal.<\/p>\n We say\u00a0 \u2014 no more movement, we\u2019re not budging. Then they come back only on July 3 with some proposal and continue trying to advance negotiations. Hamas played nonstop to run down the clock until Sinwar was eliminated and the Iranian axis was hit.<\/p>\n \t In September, I place on the table the framework that happened a year later \u2014 demilitarization in exchange for reconstruction, return of all hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, safe passage for Sinwar and his people, dismantling Hamas\u2019s weapons, ending the war.<\/p>\n All that I present already in September 2024. Once [Sinwar] is eliminated, things begin to move toward an agreement.<\/p>\n In September, after all our actions against the axis and after Nasrallah is eliminated, we\u2019re in advanced negotiations with Hamas \u2014 September, October, November, December \u2014 advanced negotiations to reach the January 2025 deal.<\/p>\n \t The two administrations \u2014 the [Donald] Trump one elected in November and the Biden administration \u2014 reach an understanding around the Logan Act that they can operate with us so as not to halt negotiations, and we reach the January deal.<\/p>\n Call Israel\u2019s military actions aggressive if you wish \u2014 still, you couldn\u2019t bring everyone back without both military and diplomatic maneuvers. The diplomatic had to be with a body like a Trump administration insisting on no daylight, making it clear to the Turks there\u2019s nowhere for Hamas to run, to the Qataris there\u2019s nowhere to run, and with the support of all Arab states and many Muslim countries, pushing Hamas into a corner.<\/p>\n While the IDF and Shin Bet apply heavy military pressure, and there is a whole diplomatic process, it brings us to Sharm el-Sheikh.<\/p>\n \t There\u2019s criticism<\/a> from former negotiator Oren Setter that there were two windows to free hostages, in March and July 2024, that the prime minister missed. How do you respond?<\/p>\n Hirsch: I don\u2019t accept it. I know all the data and what stood before us. I think given the data and various developments, it was not possible to reach a deal then. Certainly until Sinwar\u2019s elimination there was no chance of a deal.<\/p>\n After that we were already moving toward the January 2025 deal and meanwhile we were already working on the deal for everyone, but in two stages.<\/p>\n \t But then we were unable to conduct effective negotiations. I sat three weeks in Doha in July 2025, then French President Emmanuel Macron begins his [Palestinian statehood recognition] campaign with all his initiatives, and everything gets screwed up.<\/p>\n Hamas feels it\u2019s on the path to winning and rejects a deal. We leave and keep trying from Israel, then understand it won\u2019t work.<\/p>\n We must apply the combined [military-diplomatic] operation, entering Gaza City and running the diplomatic move with the Americans up until October, when we travel to Sharm el-Sheikh [for the ceasefire deal].<\/p>\n \t There are allegations that because there were people around Netanyahu who were influenced by Qatar this affected decision-making and pressured or harmed relations with Egypt.<\/p>\n Hirsch: As hostage coordinator, I deal with the hostage domain.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not familiar with these things, not with such details, and I can\u2019t address them.<\/p>\n After seeing all the Hamas ceremonies in January during the second ceasefire around the returns \u2014 including the Bibas family \u2014 did you consider stopping the whole thing?\u00a0<\/p>\n \t Hirsch: From the first time, we insisted constantly and maintained very firm contacts with the mediators to stop those ceremonies and to not allow them. Hamas continued doing them throughout the January\u2013March deal.<\/p>\n We inserted into the agreement \u2014 in the negotiations that didn\u2019t materialize and later in the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement \u2014 clarifications. No ceremonies, nothing.<\/p>\n I remind you that for the bodies of fallen soldiers obtained in the January deal, there were no ceremonies. It happened at night, via the Egyptians. We applied sanctions and halted many processes so all those ceremonies would stop.<\/p>\n It was part of their practical propaganda, which unfortunately had more than a little success in Israel.<\/p>\n Who made decisions in Hamas after a year without a leader?<\/p>\n Hirsch: They appointed a committee of five people, and decisions were made within those five. They didn\u2019t name a leader, though it was clear Khalil al-Hayya was leading on some issues and Muhammad Darwish on others. But it was a five-man committee trying to deal with the shock of Sinwar\u2019s and Nasrallah\u2019s eliminations and events in the region. That\u2019s how it was managed, and negotiations with the mediators were conducted with them.<\/p>\n Regarding the Doha strike in September, what was your recommendation when asked whether it would affect negotiations?<\/p>\n Hirsch: Issues of striking Hamas leadership in various places worldwide \u2014 including in Qatar \u2014 came up and were examined over time. I can\u2019t go into the considerations and what happened.<\/p>\n \t In hindsight, it\u2019s clear to all of us that the fact Hamas understood it wasn\u2019t immune anywhere, and the mediators understood Israel\u2019s long arm reached everywhere, had a clear effect on achieving the deal and the return of all.<\/p>\n Were there Gazans who responded to financial rewards to return hostages?<\/p>\n Hirsch: There were many approaches after those offers. All were checked by the Shin Bet. That track ultimately didn\u2019t bear fruit \u2014 we had no success in bringing a hostage in exchange for benefits, money \u2014 like a family bringing us a hostage. That track didn\u2019t succeed.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of criticism that the Red Cross didn\u2019t do enough \u2014 didn\u2019t reach the hostages. There was also a decision here not to allow them to see Palestinian prisoners, creating room for counter-accusations. Do you think we should have allowed them to visit Palestinian prisoners here? And did they do the best they could given the circumstances?<\/p>\n Hirsch: First, I should say that with Julien Lerisson, the ICRC head of mission, and his people, there was very effective operational cooperation during the release deals and during searches for bodies of the fallen, implementing the agreement.<\/p>\n \t Certainly we had many expectations from the Red Cross to also get medicines in and to reach the hostages and pressure Hamas. I understand the Red Cross\u2019s claims they were denied access, but I think the Red Cross also needed to make public the fact that Hamas denied access and didn\u2019t allow them to perform their role, and not create a kind of symmetry as if we and they are the same. Hamas is a terrorist organization; it initiated the war; it abducted our people; it abused hostages \u2014 women, children, elderly, young, civilians and soldiers.<\/p>\n I think the Red Cross should have had a firm statement on this. But I must also say I greatly appreciate many actions the Red Cross personnel and leadership did here during the release deals and during the searches for hostages.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-01-31-at-21.08.37-e1769886654260-640x400.jpeg\")
\n\t\tGovernment hostage point man Gal Hirsch embraces families of hostages before flying to the US, July 24, 2024 (Lazar Berman\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/F250826AVS402-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tProtesters for the release of hostages held in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, August 26, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26006694509955-e1768616671706-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tUS Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a speech as Jared Kushner looks on upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, January 6, 2026. (Ludovic Marin, Pool photo via AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/f111018ffah02-e1440435906442-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tReleased Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit (second right), walks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (second left), then-defense minister Ehud Barak (left), and ex-chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz (right), at the Tel Nof air base in southern Israel, October 18, 2011. (Ariel Hermoni\/Defense Ministry\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/000_32FW7BF-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tDemonstrators march with members of the Goldin family, whose son Hadar was killed during the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip, to demand the return of his remains and the return of other Israelis held in Gaza back to Israel, in Kfar Saba on August 3, 2022. (JACK GUEZ \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/FotoJet-9-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tIsraelis held in Gaza in a 2021 combination picture: Clockwise from top left: Oron Shaul, Avera Mengistu, Hadar Goldin and Hisham al-Sayed. (Flash90\/ Courtesy)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ABG_53702-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) meets with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (C) and military chiefs at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv for a security assessment on October 8, 2023. (GPO)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20240305__34KU4BG__v1__HighRes__UsQatarDiplomacyBlinkenAlThani-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) and Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani speak to the press in the Treaty Room of the State Department in Washington, DC, on March 5, 2024. (Photo by Drew ANGERER \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/599-640x400.jpeg\")
\n\t\tMossad chief David Barnea (left) talks with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 23, 2025. (Yad Vashem \/ Screenshot)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG-20231020-WA00152-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tNatalie Raanan, 3rd left, Judith Raanan, right, are seen upon arrival in Israel after being released from Hamas captivity as government hostage envoy Gal Hirsch, center, holds their hands, October 20, 2023. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hostages-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tA still from a video released by Hamas\u2019s armed wing showing hostages Yocheved Lifshitz, left, and Nurit Cooper before their release from captivity, October 23, 2023. (screen capture)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vlcsnap-2023-10-28-09h53m00s207-640x400.png\")
\n\t\tA still from video released by the IDF shows Israeli tanks rolling into Gaza on October 28, 2023. (Screen capture: IDF)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG-20231129-WA0024-1-e1701267890240-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tRon Krivoi embraces his parents at Sheba Medical enter in Ramat Gan after he was released as a hostage by the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group, November 26, 2023. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP24292541776001-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tHouthi supporters raise a poster of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who killed by Israeli troops in Gaza, during an anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, October 18, 2024. (AP Photo\/ Osamah Abdulrahman)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP24012824269404-e1758651057583-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tThen-US President Joe Biden, right, hugs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/34862WQ-Preview-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tRelatives and friends mourn as they gather for the funeral of Alon Shamriz, an Israeli hostage who was mistakenly killed by the IDF in Gaza, in Kibbutz Shefayim on December 17, 2023. (Oren ZIV \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC082181-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tA view of the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip, December 26, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC02418-e1721114025392-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tTroops of the IDF\u2019s Givati Brigade operate in the Yabna camp of southern Gaza\u2019s Rafah, June 18, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20241117__1719482074__v5__HighRes__PresidentBidenAttendsRoundtableWithJewishCom-e1735864406254-.jpeg\")
\n\t\tUS President Joe Biden (right) confers with his National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan during a roundtable with Jewish community leaders at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, October 11, 2023 in Washington. (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images\/AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP24213750616710-e1722495664305-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tHamas chief Ismail Haniyeh claps during the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, not in picture, in Tehran, Iran, July 30, 2024. On the left is top Hezbollah official, Sheikh Naim Qassem. (AP\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/vlcsnap-2025-03-24-17h31m50s057-1-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tHostages Yosef-Haim Ohana (left) and Elkana Bohbot seen in a Hamas propaganda video released on March 24, 2025. (Screenshot)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20240531__2155457395__v3__HighRes__PresidentBidenDeliversRemarksOnTheMiddleEast-e1723704993635-.jpeg\")
\n\t\tUS President Joe Biden announces a proposed truce-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza at the White House\u2019s State Dining Room in Washington, DC, May 31, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images\/AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp_Image_2025-10-15_at_16.04.16-640x400.jpeg\")
\n\t\tL-R: Former Operations Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, former Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, and Gaza Division chief Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram stand over the body of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in southern Gaza\u2019s Rafah on October 17, 2024. The image was published by the army on October 16, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP24311269994152-e1730890754693-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tUS President-elect Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida, November 6, 2024. (Evan Vucci\/AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dermer-sharem-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe Israeli delegation to Sharm el-Sheikh for the negotiations on the first phase of US President Donald Trump\u2019s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. The delegation includes hostage envoy Gal Hirsch (left), Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer (second-left) and Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon (right). 8 October 2025 (Telegram \/ used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP25191600302039-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron hold a joint press conference in London, July 10, 2025. (Leon Neal\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/whatsapp_image_2025-09-30_at_16.25.57-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tIDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (center) is seen in Gaza City on September 30, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP25051313440080-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tCoffins said to contain the bodies of slain Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas, her two children Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz, are displayed on a stage with a propaganda message before being handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Abdel Kareem Hana)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20250909__73WK4ZQ__v1__HighRes__QatarIsraelPalestinianHamas-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tThis frame grab taken from an AFPTV footage shows smoke billowing after an Israeli strike in Doha\u2019s capital Qatar on September 9, 2025. (Photo by Jacqueline PENNEY \/ AFPTV \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/julien--640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tHead of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Israel Julien Lerisson. (courtesy ICRC)<\/p>\n
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<\/a>