Turin, 5 September (LaPresse) – Former IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi tried to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept an agreement that would have led to the release of all hostages before last year's Rafah offensive, but the prime minister firmly rejected the proposal. This was reported by the public broadcaster Kan. Anonymous sources reported that in the months leading up to the IDF operation in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, Halevi had pushed for a ceasefire agreement that would have involved the release of all hostages in a single phase. According to the plan drawn up by the military, the release of all hostages held in Gaza would make it easier for the IDF to defeat Hamas. According to the broadcaster, when Halevi raised the proposal during a high-level security cabinet meeting, Netanyahu immediately rejected it as a ‘defeat’.
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