By Jeremy Diamond and Eugenia Yosef, CNN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: ABC News: Haidarr Jones
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says defeating Israel's enemies is more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
While the prime minister acknowledged on Thursday that freeing the 59 remaining hostages was a "very important goal," he described Israel's fight against its enemies as the "supreme objective" of the war.
"We have many objectives, many goals in this war. We want to bring back all of our hostages," Netanyahu said.
"That is a very important goal. In war, there is a supreme objective. And that supreme objective is victory over our enemies. And that is what we will achieve."
Netanyahu's remarks, which came on Israel's Independence Day, marked the first time the prime minister had explicitly described returning the hostages as a secondary goal of the war.
He had previously described defeating Hamas and securing the release of the hostages as the primary goals of Israel's war in Gaza.
His comments drew backlash from representatives of hostage families.
"Prime minister, the return of the hostages is not 'less' important - it is the supreme goal that should guide the government of Israel," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
"The families of the hostages are concerned."
Protesters and families of the hostages during a rally in Tel Aviv, Israel on April 6. Photo: JACK GUEZ / AFP
Netanyahu's comments put him at odds with the majority of the Israeli public, which overwhelmingly supports a deal to release all the hostages and end the war in Gaza, according to recent opinion polls.
But it puts the prime minister in the company of Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who recently made similar comments.
"We need to tell the truth - bringing back the hostages is not the most important goal. It is, of course, a very, very, very, very important goal," Smotrich said last week.
"But anyone who wants to destroy Hamas and eliminate the possibility of another October 7 must understand that in Gaza, there can't be a situation where Hamas remains present and intact."
Members of Netanyahu's governing coalition have been pushing the prime minister to continue fighting.
Senior Israeli officials have warned for weeks that the military will intensify its operations in Gaza if there is no ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Netanyahu was set to meet with senior defence officials on Friday as Israel prepares to expand the war.
Israel said its bombardment of Gaza, coupled with a two-month total blockade, was an attempt to put pressure on Hamas to make concessions in ceasefire negotiations.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and said it could not continue to rule the enclave.
Pressure mounts on Netanyahu
This is the second time this week that Netanyahu has faced backlash from the families of hostages.
On Monday, his wife Sara was overheard on a microphone saying that "fewer" than 24 hostages were still alive in Gaza.
The remark outraged families and prompted demands for clarity on what the government knew about their loved ones' fate, as well as questions on why the prime minister's wife had sensitive information about their loved ones that they did not.
"You sowed indescribable panic in the hearts of the families of the hostages - families already living in agonising uncertainty," the forum said in a statement.
"If there is intelligence or new information regarding the condition of our loved ones, we demand full disclosure."
Israel has publicly said in recent weeks that it believed up to 24 of the 59 remaining hostages were still alive.
Sara Netanyahu's claim appeared to be an indication that the government may have information that some of the 24 hostages had died.
Israeli officials told CNN last week there were "grave concerns" about three of the hostages, but would not say whether Israel knew for certain that they were dead.
For months, Israeli officials used the same language to refer to hostages Shiri Bibas and her two children, whose bodies were returned in the most recent ceasefire.
Pressure had also been mounting on Netanyahu from military reservists who had become increasingly vocal in their opposition to the war, with several public letters saying the Gaza war mainly served the political and personal interests of officials, not the country's security interests.
- CNN
