Quotes
The involvement of President-elect Trump’s team has been absolutely critical in getting this deal over the line,
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said of the deal
The continued occupation by the Israel [military] inside the UNIFIL area operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of Resolution 1701,
said U.N. Secretary-General António GuterresIt's as clear as can be that the delay is a result of political pressures in Jerusalem and Netanyahu's fear for his coalition,
Shira Efron, senior research director at the Israel Policy Forum and former United Nations consultant in Jerusalem, told Newsweek
Once he reached the conclusion that one of the two most extreme members of his government, who only jointly can deprive him of a governing majority, is not about to jump ship, he went for it,
Novik saidThe Biden-Trump cooperation on this issue has been both unprecedented and impressive,
Novik saidWe appreciate how the outgoing and incoming administrations put politics aside at this transitional juncture to help advance a hostage agreement,
Harounoff saidHappy with his powerful position and alarmed by consistent polls indicating that he is not making the electoral threshold, thus not returning should elections are called, all Bibi [Netanyahu] had to do is offer him some face-saving formula,
Novik saidThe last-minute hiccup in convening the Israeli cabinet to approve the deal has been a microcosm of the Netanyahu conduct on the issue throughout: the longevity of his governing coalition being the primary consideration,
Nimrod Novik, an Israel Policy Forum fellow who served as senior foreign policy adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, told NewsweekThe Hamas terrorist organization continues to exploit the civilian population for its terror attacks against the State of Israel in violation of international law,
the IDF saidWhat we have seen from the U.S. in the past few days, seeing a collaboration transcending both administrations, was a clear demonstration for the commitment of the U.S. to reach to that deal,
Sheikh Mohammed said at the time
Is that a joke?"
In response to a reporter's final shouted question about whether he or Trump deserved credit for the deal, Biden simply repliedThe only difference now, and thankfully the game changer, is the PM's desire to please President Trump,
she addedWhere we could be facing a more serious crisis is in the negotiations and transition into stage 2, and if there is stage 3, of the agreement,
she addedThe devaluing of human life, especially Palestinian life, which wasn’t regarded as worth much before the war, has been dramatic,
Shalev said
The loss of life on this scale and the government’s disregard of the lives of the [Israeli] hostages eroded what we call in Hebrew, ‘arvut hadadit’, which refers to the sense of mutual responsibility that binds all Jews,
Shalev addedFor 15 months, we’ve been told that we’re just on the verge of absolute victory, but we’ve achieved nothing other than destruction and killing,
Goldberg addedThere’s definitely been a moral corruption within Israel,
said Dr Guy Shalev, the executive director of Physicians for Human Rights Israel, which has documented the denial of medical aid and torture of PalestiniansThis may be more transactional than many suppose,
Mairav Zonszein, an Israel expert with the International Crisis Group, said, suggestingBy agreeing now, Netanyahu may have bought himself greater freedom to act in the West Bank and in determining whatever future that is agreed for Gaza,
she said, referring to far-right Israeli plans to annex the occupied Palestinian territory, which is dotted with Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international lawThe humanitarian toll in Gaza and Hezbollah’s decision to ink a separate cease-fire deal with Israel in November made Hamas more flexible,
noted Hugh Lovatt and Muhammad Shehada of the European Council on Foreign Relations