JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday Israel would not pay any price for the return of hostages still detained in Gaza, amid ongoing negotiations to guarantee their release.
Asked about the 134 hostages who were still in Gaza, Smotrich told Kan Radio their return was "very important", but they could not be released "by any means".
He said the way to free them was to increase military pressure on Gaza and defeat Hamas, the militant group that controls the enclave.
His remarks came under fire from opposition leader Yair Lapid and Minister Benny Gantz, as well as angered several hostages' families who tried to increase pressure on the government to reach an agreement.
But shortly after the radio interview, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office published a statement echoing Smotrich's position.
"There is a lot of pressure on Israel from within and outside the country to stop the war before we reach all our goals, including a deal to free the hostages at any price," Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
"We are not willing to pay any price, of course not the price Hamas has asked for, which means defeat to the Israeli state," he said.
The statement comes as Washington plans to send its envoy to the Middle East to the region to continue talks between the United States, Egypt, Israel, and Qatar seeking to broker the ceasefire and release of hostages.
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Israel said 253 of its citizens were arrested and taken to Gaza in an attack by the Hamas militant group on October 7. Since then, Israeli air, land and sea attacks have killed more than 29,000 Palestinians and thousands more are trapped under the rubble, according to Palestinian authorities.
The most significant release of hostages has so far been in the only week-long war negotiations pause in November, when Hamas released 110 Israelis and foreigners they arrested.
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