Israeli Reserve Major General Nitzan Alon, a former point person for hostage negotiations, says Israel could have freed all Gaza captives up to a year earlier and potentially concluded the Gaza war sooner. Speaking at events hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, he links the timing of releases to decisions made by Israel’s political leadership.
Across the outlets, Alon argues that “political and personal considerations” contributed to delays and that more hostages could have returned alive had negotiations moved earlier. He criticizes the idea that Israel had to pursue “total victory” over Hamas before making hostage deals, saying this approach was flawed and that an earlier agreement was possible.
Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye report that Alon maintains all captives could have been brought home around a year before the final releases in late 2025, and that this earlier deal would not have changed the war’s overall outcome. Times of India similarly frames his remarks as an assessment that a one-year-earlier resolution could have reduced harm to hostages and civilians, while maintaining that negotiations could have happened without waiting for full wartime objectives.
