Former Israeli detainee: Netanyahu wants to win the war at the expense of the “hostages” | News

An Israeli woman previously detained by Islamic resistance movement (Hamas) in Gaza striplaunched a scathing attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of seeking personal glory for himself by winning the war at the expense of detainees.

Israeli Aviva Adriana Siegel, 62, who was released from Gaza after 51 days and whose husband Keith is still detained, said she “fears that the Israeli government’s desire to win the war in Gaza will come at the expense of the hostages.”

Siegel added to the American channel “PBS NewsHour”: “I have a feeling that… Netanyahu He wants the war to continue, because he wants to win the war,” pointing out that “he cannot continue the war and take out the hostages at the same time.”

“I have a feeling that Netanyahu wants to keep the war going because he wants to win the war. But he can’t keep the war going and get the hostages out,” Aviva Siegel, who was held in captivity by Hamas, tells @IAmAmnaNawaz. “He needs to go to a ceasefire and then get them out.” pic.twitter.com/tXi6q5bwUu

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) January 2, 2024

Siegel continued, “Netanyahu needs to reach a ceasefire and then get them (the detainees) out, and he must get them out now as quickly as possible because 88 days is enough.”

When asked if she believes Netanyahu prioritizes winning the war over bringing detainees home, Siegel replied: “I have a feeling that this is why the war is going on, because he wants to win the war.”

Siegel spoke about her husband, Keith, saying, “I am strong for Keith now, but I want him back. He is 64 years old, has health problems, and needs to get out now with all the other hostages.”

Siegel’s speech comes about a week after the speech of another Israeli detainee who had also been released by Hamas, during which she revealed that the Israeli army bombed the place where she and her children were being held in Gaza, despite knowing they were there, which led to their injuries.

Hagar Broditch told the Israeli Channel 12 the story of how she and her children were subjected to intense bombing by the Israeli army, declaring that she left Gaza with the conclusion that returning detainees was not a priority for Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

She added, “I realized when I returned (from Gaza) that we were not at all the first priority of the Israeli government, but rather the first thing was to defeat Hamas and then return the kidnapped people.”

“They (the army) bombed a building close to where we were, and all the windows exploded and the walls fell,” Brodich said. But she added, “Miraculously, the five of us got out with minor injuries.”

The former Israeli detainee added, “On Monday, October 9, the Israeli army bombed us, and it was bombing near us all the time.”

It is noteworthy that the former Israeli detainee in Gaza, Raz Ben Ami, in statements to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, called on the Netanyahu government to complete an exchange deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” in Gaza “urgently,” after it was revealed that 3 Israeli detainees were killed by occupation army fire during Its progress in the sector.

The families of the Israeli prisoners are calling on the Netanyahu government to cease fire in Gaza, and to exchange their families for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons.

Since last October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, which as of Wednesday left 22,313 martyrs, 57,296 injured, most of them children and women, massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Gaza Strip authorities and the United Nations.