Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Newsmax on Thursday that he hopes to get 10 more living hostages released from the clutches of Hamas "monsters" in a few days as part of a negotiated ceasefire.
In an exclusive interview with "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," Netanyahu said "it's been hell" for the 255 hostages that were taken by Hamas terrorists beginning Oct. 7, 2023.
"Well, they're monsters. I mean what they do to them, and the stories we get are horrible," Netanyahu said of Hamas. "So it's not easy for us when we're doing it."
Netanyahu is resolved to bring home the remaining hostages.
"We have 50 left; 20 definitely alive, and some 30 that are not alive, and I want to take them all out. We now have a deal that supposedly we'll get half of the living and half of the dead out, and so we'll have 10 living left and about 12 deceased hostages," he said. "But I'll get them out, too. I hope we can complete in a few days."
Israel and Hamas are negotiating to secure a temporary ceasefire-for-hostages deal.
"We'll probably have a 60-day ceasefire. Get the first batch out and then use the 60 days to try to negotiate an end to this. And this could end tomorrow – today – if Hamas lays down its arms," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu made it clear that Hamas' oppression is as bad for Palestinians as it is for Israeli hostages.
"It is a fighting force and a governing force in Gaza that oppresses its people, targets our people, our civilians, and uses their civilians as human shields. And then they complain that the civilian losses are because of us," he told Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren. "No, we say to the civilians, 'Leave. Leave the war zone.' ... And Hamas says, 'You don't go. You try to leave the war zone, we'll shoot you.'
"And they shoot them because they want the pictures of dead civilians that they are causing put on Israel's head. And that's what you get in TikTok and the social media: 'Israel is deliberately killing civilians'; no, we're not. Hamas is deliberately killing its own people, preventing them from escaping the war zone. So they're monsters."
Netanyahu said, however, that Israel is seeing some Palestinians rise up against Hamas.
"There are Palestinians fighting Hamas because we weaken them to this point," he said. "We see something that never happened before. Palestinians in Gaza are fighting Hamas. Palestinians in Gaza are defying Hamas. Palestinians in Gaza are saying, 'We don't want them We don't want to be tyrannized and subjugated by these monsters.'"
"Well, that didn't happen before, and we think we can bring it to completion. So I wouldn't tell you that we have a war goal that is unachievable," Netanyahu said. "We're going to defeat these monsters and get our hostages back."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.