Former Israeli hostage negotiator Major General (retd) Nitzan Alon has said Israel could have ended the Gaza war about a year earlier and secured the release of all its remaining hostages without significantly compromising its other strategic objectives.According to Al Jazeera, Alon made the remarks during a Washington Institute for Near East Policy webcast on October 2, arguing that Israel could have reached the position it ultimately achieved “much earlier, maybe a year earlier or so”. He said the prolonged war may have cost the lives of hostages who could otherwise have been brought home alive.Alon, who served as the Israeli military’s point person for hostage negotiations during the war, said Israel’s insistence on achieving “total victory” over Hamas before accepting a comprehensive deal was based on a false premise.He argued that the October 2025 ceasefire and hostage agreement demonstrated that Israel could have achieved its broader strategic objectives while reaching a deal much earlier.Alon said the decision to continue the war also had a human cost, arguing that an earlier agreement could have brought some hostages home alive and potentially saved thousands of lives on both sides.He said Israel “could have and should have” shortened the war and returned the hostages earlier.The October 2025 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10, 2025, under a US-backed plan aimed at ending the Gaza war and securing the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.Under the first phase of the deal, Hamas agreed to release all 20 living Israeli hostages, while Israel agreed to release Palestinian prisoners and detainees and withdraw its forces to agreed positions in Gaza.The October 2025 deal came nearly two years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, in which 251 people were abducted and taken to Gaza.The attack killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, triggering Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and a prolonged effort to secure the release of the hostages.
