Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed a security cabinet meeting to vote on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that should take effect ton January 19, in Jerusalem on January 17, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday (January 18, 2025) that Israel reserves the right to resume fighting in Gaza with U.S. support, as he pledged to bring home all hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
“We reserve the right to resume the war if necessary, with American support,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a televised statement, a day before a ceasefire is set to take effect.
Also read | Israel’s Cabinet approves deal for ceasefire in Gaza; 737 hostages to be freed in first phase
“We are thinking of all our hostages … I promise you that we will achieve all our objectives and bring back all the hostages.
“With this agreement, we will bring back 33 of our brothers and sisters, the majority (of them) alive,” he said.
He said the 42-day first phase, which starts on Sunday, was a “temporary ceasefire.”
“If we are forced to resume the war, we will do so with force,” Mr. Netanyahu said, adding that Israel had “changed the face of the Middle East” since the war began.
Published – January 19, 2025 05:08 am IST
