We Missed It’: Ex-Israeli General Says Gaza War Could Have Ended Earlier

A former Israeli general who served as the military’s point person for hostage negotiations during the Gaza war has said Israel could have reached a deal to free all its captives much earlier, potentially saving thousands of lives.

Major General Nitzan Alon said on Friday that an agreement could have been reached about a year earlier without significantly affecting Israel’s strategic objectives.

“I think that we could have gotten to this point much earlier, maybe a year earlier or so,” Alon said during a Washington Institute for Near East Policy webcast marking three years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Alon criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel had to achieve “total victory” before agreeing to a deal, describing the argument as false.

He said the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, which led to the release of 20 Israeli captives and nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, was a strategic achievement that weakened Hamas militarily.

However, Alon argued that the agreement could have been reached much sooner, potentially allowing some captives who died in captivity to return home alive.

“We could have – and we should have – shortened the war, brought all the hostages back, maybe a year earlier, and moved forward and maybe saved thousands of lives on both sides,” he said.

Former Israeli diplomat Alan Pinkas also accused Netanyahu’s government of delaying an end to the conflict, saying a deal could have been possible shortly after the October 2023 attack.

“It took almost two years before the hostages were returned,” Pinkas said, describing the delay as a tragic missed opportunity.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani also recently said Israeli officials rejected an early proposal from Hamas for the release of all captives in exchange for a limited ceasefire.

According to the Qatari prime minister, Doha contacted Israeli officials shortly after the October 2023 attacks, but Israel was not interested in engaging with the proposal.

Alon’s comments come ahead of Israel’s October 27 legislative election, with the government facing continued public scrutiny over its handling of the October 7 attack and the subsequent Gaza war.