By Ravi Jalhotra
Jerusalem [Israel], October 9 : Israel's Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Alex Gandler vowed that Israel will hunt every terrorist and October 7 will "never happen again" for Israelis.
In an interview with ANI, Gandler said that the people of Israel have a "very long and rich history and they learn from mistakes and asserted that the "mistake will never happen again."
When asked about the direct message to Hezbollah and other terrorists, he responded, "Well, I think our direct message is quite clear with our soldiers at the front, we're going to hunt every terrorist. The 7th of October for Israelis will never happen again. It is a huge lesson for us. But, we're people with a very long and rich history, and we learn from our mistakes. This mistake will never happen again, not because of these people."
The conflict in Gaza started after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. About 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to casualties and the seizure of hostages. Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas, vowing to eliminate the entire terror group while making efforts to minimize civilian casualties.
He said that there is nothing that they can talk about right now as Israel is at war on multiple fronts. He stated that Israel has to achieve its strategic goals for any peace to be talked about.
Asked if he believes a two-state solution is viable, Alex Gandler said, "Well, the two-state solution is something that I don't think was ever off the table, but it's something that we'll need to revisit once this is done, because at the moment there is nothing really that we can talk about. We're in a war. We're in war on multiple fronts, on seven fronts. We have to achieve our strategic goals in order for any peace to be talked about. At the end of the day, as I told you, on October 6th that's where we were, we were in peace. We were in a state where there was no war. We want to go back to that state. We want to go back to a state where our children and their children can live in peace. So I don't think there's anything off the table at any time."
"But, the right conditions need to be there in order for the leaders to speak to each other. That's how we've done it. You know, a couple of years ago, four or five years ago when I would tell you that Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and Morocco will have a peace agreement, I don't think anyone would have believed it and we've done it. Peace is possible everywhere, same thing with other countries in the region, there were conversations regarding Saudi Arabia just before October 7th Everything is possible, everything for us is possible at the end of the day Israel seeks peace. We understand that only through peace will we have an end of war," he added.
Israel's Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson said that there have not been any talks for the past several weeks. He noted that Hamas' leader Yahya Sinwar had contacted mediators once again yesterday.
Asked whether there have been talks to bring back Israeli hostages, Alex Gandler said, "Unfortunately, for the last several weeks, we haven't seen any talks. Just yesterday, we've heard that the terrorist leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, had contacted the mediators once again. But, there weren't any talks for the last several weeks, since Israel decided to stop Hezbollah in Lebanon, Sinwar has disappeared. Probably, he understands that what happened to Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah terrorists might happen to him."
He said that India and Israel have a lot of knowledge to share, which includes intelligence, and equipment. He stated that the two nations were facing the threat of terrorism.
On being asked how Israel views expanding collaboration with India in areas like counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing, he said, "Unfortunately, Israel is now very versed in fighting terrorism. It's not our first day in this fight. It's not India's first day in this fight. We have a lot of knowledge to share between the nations, either in equipment or in intelligence and other fields of knowledge."
"We're both facing pretty much the same threat, the threat of terrorism, of killing of civilians, under disguise of ideology, in our case radical Islamic ideology, sometimes in India's case as well. We have a lot of cooperation that we can share between the countries, a lot of discussions that happens on the professional levels. We have delegations coming and going between the countries that share this information, and I think, unfortunately, there is a lot to share after the recent year," he added.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country's forces have successfully targeted and eliminated potential successors to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed during precision strikes on the Lebanese capital on Beirut by Israeli Defence Forces.
In a video message released on Tuesday (local time), Netanyahu said, "We've degraded Hezbollah's capabilities. We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah's replacement, and the replacement of the replacement."
Addressing the people of Lebanon, Netanyahu urged them "to reclaim their country from the grip" of Hezbollah. "Lebanon was once known for its tolerance, for its beauty. Today, it's a place of chaos, a place of war," he stated.
Netanyahu attributed Lebanon's downfall to "a gang of tyrants and terrorists" and specifically highlighted Iran's assistance to Hezbollah.
"Iran finances and arms Hezbollah to serve Iran's interests at Lebanon's expense. Hezbollah has turned Lebanon into a stockpile of ammunition and weapons and a forward Iranian military base. Just one day after the October 7 massacre a year ago, Hezbollah joined the war against Israel. It launched an unprovoked attack on our cities and on our citizens. It has since fired over 8,000 missiles at Israel killing civilians without distinctions, Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze," Netanyahu said.
"Israel has decided to put an end to this. We've decided to do whatever is necessary to return our people safely to their homes. Israel has a right to defend itself. Israel also has a right to win. And Israel will win," he added.