Israel is working toward the eradication of Hamas, but all or most of the hostages they are holding must be released first from Gaza, Amir Avivi, founder and director of Israel's Defense and Security Forum, said on Newsmax Sunday.
But the moment Hamas stops returning hostages, Avivi told Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend," "this is the moment the IDF will go in and the gates of hell will open for Hamas."
"I had the chance to visit the Southern Command last week, and I can tell you that the IDF is doing all the preparations to go into Gaza and completely eradicate Hamas," he added. "But there is a clear interest morally, but also from an operational point of view, to make sure that we get all our hostages or most of them, at least until the stage where Hamas doesn't give any hostages anymore."
But when the attack starts, it will be "decisive," and "at the end of that attack, there will be no more Hamas in Gaza," Avivi said.
His comments come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are meeting in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu also said Sunday that "the gates of hell would be open” if dozens of hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war are not released.
The first phase in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is to end in two weeks. The second phase, which calls for Hamas to exchange dozens of remaining hostages for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting truce, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, has not yet been negotiated.
Avivi told Newsmax that the problem with the second stage is that the leadership of Hamas needs to leave Gaza, and that will take military pressure.
"I think that without military pressure, it will be very, very difficult to bring Hamas to the stage where they are willing to simply give us all the hostages and get out of Gaza, he said.
Hamas is also releasing propaganda videos about the hostages with claims that they are being well-treated, and has reported that some are dead that may not be, but they can't be trusted, said Avivi.
Netanyahu also said during his meeting with Rubio that Israel can finish the job of stopping Iran from having nuclear weapons, with the support of the United States.
"Israel is committed to making sure that Iran won't be nuclear," Avivi commented. "I can say that when we started the ceasefire in Lebanon after we brought Hezbollah in two weeks on its knees, Prime Minister Netanyahu said we're now doing a ceasefire in Lebanon and the center of gravity of the Israel Defense Forces is moving towards dealing with Iran."
A nuclear Iran, he added, is "not an option."
"It's an existential threat for Israel and the region and Israel is preparing for an attack," said Avivi. "We would like to see a coalition. We would like to see the U.S. leading such an attack … this is not starting a war. This is ending the war. This is what we need. But Israel is ready to do it by itself, with the U.S. backing if needed."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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