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The recently negotiated ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is not a “strategic” victory for the Jewish state, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat told CNBC.
Announced last week, the deal has so far seen the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and, if respected by all sides, will continue to free captives and end the devastating 15-month war between the two adversaries.
Still, speaking at the World Economic Forum, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Tuesday: “I don’t think it’s a strategic victory. A strategic victory is bringing peace to the Middle East.”
He added that such an outcome would mean Iran, Hamas’s historic ally, would not achieve what Barkat described as Tehran’s goal of “wiping Israel off the map.”
“We need to make sure they never have that. There are Iranian fingerprints all over our region, all over October 7,” the minister said, referring to the Hamas-led attack in 2023 that killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 200 hostages.
“We must ensure that they pay a high price for that,” he added, saying that Israel must also pursue “jihadists” in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and “around the world,” as well as expand the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements to normalize Arab-Israeli relations.
“This would be a strategic victory,” Barkat said.
People walk home through the destroyed streets of Gaza City on January 19, 2025. T
Abood Abusalama | afp | fake images
Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and its severe limitation of food and aid supplies to the blockaded enclave, has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians in the strip, according to local health authorities.
The United Nations and the World Health Organization, along with several other international aid agencies, have described the situation in Gaza as a “humanitarian catastrophe,” as the destruction of hospitals and critical infrastructure worsens hunger and disease in the region. land.
Since the ceasefire was agreed, the number of help towards the enclave has increased.
Israel’s economy minister expressed optimism about the administration of newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump, suggesting that his leadership will be better for Israel than that of his predecessor Joe Biden.
“President Biden, who we thank for his help, was holding Israel back…President Trump is standing by Israel,” Barkat said. He described Trump as presenting a more aggressive path toward Iran and more favorable to expanding the Abraham Accords, which he negotiated in his previous term.
“I think that’s the right attitude in the Middle East. You have to be very aggressive with the bad guys and good with the good,” he said. “And keep in mind that the peace we have with our neighbors, with Egypt, 40 years and with Jordan, 25 years, the Abraham agreement, four years (from 2020) was maintained in this round of violence. They understand that we collaborate.”
The Biden administration provided Israel with $17.9 billion in military aid in the year since October 7, 2023, according to a report from Brown University’s Costs of War project published in October 2024.
