In his first interview since stepping down, former head of the IDF Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon describes the months after October 7 as a mix of shock, fragmented intelligence and political pressure that severely hindered rescue efforts.
He recalls that more than 3,000 people were initially listed as missing, and it took weeks to determine who had been killed, who was in hiding and who had been taken into Gaza. An improvised headquarters quickly grew into a large organization processing information from southern Israel and from inside Gaza. Hamas frequently moved the captives, and heavy fighting meant that some hostages died only after arriving in the Strip.
Alon acknowledges that several hostages were unintentionally killed by Israeli fire when the army did not know they were being held in targeted buildings, while others survived because specific locations were excluded from airstrike lists. Fear of Israeli bombing, he says, appears again and again in freed hostages’ testimonies.
He criticizes political leaders for delays and internal disputes that repeatedly froze deals with Hamas. The first major exchange in November 2023, he notes, was arranged with minimal government involvement, but later cabinet ministers began intervening more aggressively. Decisions to resume the war while offers were still on the table, he argues, left dozens of people in captivity for many additional months.
Looking ahead, Alon says the war will ultimately be judged by one outcome: whether Hamas remains in power in Gaza. If it does, he believes many Israelis will conclude that the enormous price paid brought no real achievement and that a similar agreement could have been reached much earlier.
source: ynetnews.com