Maj.-Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, who headed the IDF’s hostage and lacking individuals directorate in the course of the conflict, mentioned Friday that Israel might have ended the conflict in Gaza and returned the hostages considerably earlier, probably as a lot as a 12 months earlier than the extraordinary combating finally ended, Walla reported on Saturday.
Alon mentioned totally different choices might have saved hundreds of lives on each side and that a few of the hostages who had been killed or murdered in captivity may need returned alive to their households.
He made the remarks throughout a Washington Institute for Close to East Coverage panel titled “Three Years After October 7: A Bridge or a Chasm Between the Peoples?”
Throughout the dialogue, moderated by David Makovsky and that includes Israeli, Palestinian, and American specialists, Alon was requested in regards to the choices that extended the conflict and whether or not a chance to return the hostages earlier had been missed.
‘We missed the chance. The conflict was too lengthy’
“I believe we might have reached this level a lot earlier, maybe a 12 months earlier, with out considerably harming the opposite strategic aims of the conflict,” Alon mentioned.
“We might have achieved the identical strategic accomplishments when it comes to damaging Hamas’s army power, and when it comes to many different safety points, a lot earlier. Maybe we’d have introduced again alive a few of the hostages who had been killed or murdered throughout captivity,” he mentioned. “We missed that chance. The conflict was too lengthy.”
Alon harassed that he was not trying to research Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private motivations.
“I am not a psychologist who can know precisely what’s going on within the prime minister’s thoughts,” he mentioned, including that political leaders are influenced by strategic and ideological concerns, political constraints, and private issues, and that it was unimaginable to find out which issue had been decisive.
Nonetheless, he mentioned, “I am pretty sure that we might and will have shortened the conflict, introduced again all of the hostages, maybe a 12 months earlier, moved ahead, and perhaps saved hundreds of lives on each side. It’s possible that a few of the hostages who had been killed or murdered in Gaza might even have returned alive to their households.”
Alon was later requested in regards to the stress between the conflict’s two aims, destroying Hamas and returning the hostages. He acknowledged that there had been important stress between them, however argued that, on reflection, the strategic achievements obtained after two years of intense combating weren’t materially totally different from those who might have been achieved earlier.
He mentioned the settlement reached in October 2025 was barely higher than an association that would have been reached a number of months earlier, however not from a strategic standpoint. He famous that even after the conflict, Hamas remained in energy and continued to regulate Gaza’s inhabitants, though it not managed greater than half of the territory of the Gaza Strip.
‘Not management primarily based on slogans corresponding to whole victory’
In one other a part of the dialogue, Alon addressed the October 7 failure and the management’s conduct in the course of the conflict.
“On October 7, there was after all a extreme intelligence and army failure, alongside a mistaken and catastrophic conception by the political management,” he mentioned.
Alon mentioned that whereas the federal government struggled to handle the conflict, Israeli society demonstrated initiative, solidarity, and mutual accountability. He mentioned assembly members of the general public and hundreds of Israelis who labored on behalf of the hostages and their households gave him private power in the course of the tough interval through which he headed the directorate.
He contrasted what he considered because the constructive qualities of Israeli society with sharp criticism of the nation’s management.
“Israel wants management that takes accountability as it’s and provides hope. Not management that depends on slogans corresponding to ‘whole victory,’ however management that presents sensible and balanced plans for coping with our safety, financial, and social challenges.”
Alon added that regardless of manifestations of extremism in Israeli society, the conflict had additionally revealed extraordinary civilian strengths.
“We positively want totally different management, which can take these fantastic folks ahead with a practical method,” he mentioned.
Altering safety doctrine: Buffer zones and army freedom of motion
Alon additionally addressed the profound change that October 7 delivered to Israeli attitudes towards the Palestinians and the prospects for a diplomatic settlement.
He mentioned many Israelis had developed a deep lack of belief within the Palestinian aspect, within the two-state answer, and within the very risk of reaching an settlement. The truth that the Hamas assault was carried out contained in the June 4, 1967, traces, somewhat than solely in reference to the dispute over territories captured that 12 months, deepened the sense that the battle prolonged past the query of borders.
He added that the brutality of the bloodbath, its documentation on social media, and the kidnapping of ladies, youngsters, and aged folks deepened the trauma and made it harder for a lot of Israelis to tell apart between Hamas and the broader Palestinian inhabitants, or to really feel empathy for struggling on the opposite aspect.
Safety considering had modified as properly, Alon mentioned. The present method depends on establishing buffer zones not solely in Gaza but in addition in Lebanon and Syria, whereas demanding full army freedom of motion, together with in depth destruction of neighborhoods and villages inside these buffer zones.
Nonetheless, Alon expressed hope that after Israel’s elections, scheduled for October 27, a deeper understanding would emerge relating to the restrictions of army pressure.
“I consider that over time there will probably be a deeper understanding of the restrictions of the usage of pressure, alongside recognition that diplomatic measures and nonmilitary options are essential to cope with our nationwide safety issues,” he mentioned.
In closing, Alon pointed to diplomatic potentialities involving Lebanon and Syria as a chance for regional change. Progress in these arenas, he mentioned, might be step one towards creating renewed optimism relating to the broader Israeli-Arab battle.
