Israeli general says Gaza captives could have been freed a year earlier

Israeli reserve Major-General Nitzan Alon told a Washington Institute forum that all captives in Gaza could have been freed a year earlier without changing the war’s outcome, potentially saving thousands of lives.

The former head of the Israeli army’s hostage recovery effort also called for new “realistic” Israeli leadership.

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Gaza captives could have been released a year earlier

Jennifer Gavito, a former acting principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and a senior adviser at the Cohen Group, responds to comments from reserve Major-General Nitzan Alon, the former head of Israel’s hostage headquarters, who said Israeli captives in Gaza could have been brought home up to a year earlier, potentially saving thousands of lives on both sides.

Gavito says the claim reignites debate over whether Israel prioritised defeating Hamas over securing the captives’ return, but she is sceptical the thesis can be proven, given how difficult and opaque ceasefire negotiations tend to be.

She notes the Biden administration was broadly supportive of Israel after October 7, 2023, though former Secretary of State Antony Blinken later suggested that by May 2024 Washington had concerns Israel’s operational objectives had largely been met before a mediation deal was offered.

New claims that Netanyahu rejected Hamas offer to release captives

More reports are emerging that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had rejected a Hamas proposal to release all civilian captives taken from southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Netanyahu’s actions have become a key topic less than a month before national elections.

Israel justifies annexation through ‘self-defence’ while pursuing ‘Greater Israel trajectory’

Zeidon Alkinani, the founding director of the Arab Perspectives Institute, says Israel has “completely benefited” from the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel in October 2023 in a “geopolitical militarized way”.

“Israel has been able to justify its annexation of other countries’ territories as self-defence of its own,” Alkinani said.

When it comes to the October 27 elections in Israel, Alkinani said Arab politicians have been “politically intimidated” in an Israeli election system that allows no place for any disagreements in relation to Israel’s domestic and foreign policy. On Friday, Arab Israeli politician Sami Abu Shehadeh withdrew his candidacy in the upcoming elections after the Supreme Court advised him to drop out.

Referring to the situation in the occupied West Bank, Alkinani said: “Many believe that a Greater Israel trajectory would start there,” adding that it would include “areas that are arguably proclaimed under the leadership of the Palestinian Authority and the governance of the West Bank and the formalized structure as we know it today”.

International law, he said, is not stopping this trajectory from happening and neither are the many Western allies who recognize Palestinian statehood.

Somali president: We will not accept an Israeli presence in our country ‘under any circumstances’

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said that his country will not accept an Israeli presence on its territory “under any circumstances”.

President Mohamud said Israel is planning to establish a naval base in Berbera and to use the city’s airport. Berbera is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast in Somaliland, the self-declared republic in northwestern Somalia, facing Yemen across the water near the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

He said the real aim of Israel’s actions were to get closer to the Gulf states and Iran, and that they fall within what Israel calls the “Greater Israel” project.

“Greater Israel” is a term for various proposals, often rooted in biblical interpretations, for Israeli control over territory beyond its current borders. Some versions extend from the Nile to the Euphrates. Israel has not adopted it as official policy, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an August 2025 interview that he felt connected to the vision, prompting condemnation from Arab governments.

The Somali president described Israel as a destabilising force that does not abide by international law.

“Greater Israel” is a term for various proposals, often rooted in biblical interpretations, for Israeli control over territory beyond its current borders.

"Greater-Israel" is an desired ideology and comes from a mix of ancient biblical texts, modern Zionism, and post-20th-century territorial expansion by creating conflicts. The core geographical reference comes from Genesis 15:18, where God makes a covenant with Abraham, promising land extending "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates"

"... where God makes a covenant with Abraham, .."

We do not know who wrote this.  Biblical history mentions the arrival of Abraham with his Hebrew tribe from Ur, Mesopotamia, to Cana'an, where he joined other tribes to reach a covenant to accept one god.  They gave him a personal name: YHWH.

Somali president: No country other than Israel recognizes Somaliland

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said that no country other than Israel recognizes Somaliland, and that the region’s own residents are completely opposed to an Israeli presence.

Israel formally recognized Somaliland in late December 2025, which reportedly paved the way for discussions regarding defence cooperation and potential access

President Mohamud said attempts to transfer Middle East crises to Somalia “will not succeed” and that Somalia will overcome the challenges posed by Israeli moves.

Palestinian Israeli politician forced to withdraw candidacy in upcoming Israeli elections

A prominent Palestinian Israeli politician has been forced to withdraw from the upcoming elections over his remarks about the Gaza war, while Israeli far-right leaders have remained untouched despite their incendiary rhetoric and calls for violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli political institutions, including the electoral body, have been accused of double standards for targeting Palestinian politicians and parties in Israel.

Sami Abu Shehadeh, the leader of the Balad party, withdrew his candidacy after the Supreme Court warned he could be disqualified from the race. He has described the decision to disqualify him from the upcoming elections as “a historical catastrophe for democracy”.

That court advisory came after Israel’s central elections committee barred him from running over comments he made about the war on Gaza.

Netanyahu office on July 3, 2017: "Israel is a democracy, the only true democracy in the Middle East, and as such we have special ties with the democratic world."

In January 2023, Netanyahu announced the reforming of the judicial system, which opponents say the reform will severely undermine the country's democracy by weakening the judicial system, the only tool for keeping the government's use of its powers in check.

In reality, Netanyahu imposed the reforms as a tactic to undermine the process of the prosecution against him over cases of bribery and corruption, which was opened in 2019. He wanted judges at the supreme court whom views are in line with his personal and political interest.