(NewsNation) — For days, Israel has been saying a ground invasion of Gaza is imminent, but some in Israel believe finding hostages should be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first concern.
Netanyahu spokesperson Tal Heinrich insists rescuing hostages is one of the prime minister’s priorities, but she did not clarify Monday whether it was the primary goal.
“We want to see all hostages out of Gaza,” Heinrich told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas.
Heinrich added: “We have definitely two priorities. Getting the hostages out is definitely one of them, but we can also no longer live next to an existential genocidal threat named Hamas. This was a decision we took as a nation.”
Abbey Onn, an American living in Israel, is praying for the safe return of three of her family members she says were taken hostage by Hamas. Before a ground assault is carried out, Onn thinks the hostages should be rescued.
“I don’t believe the war should be built on the backs of innocent civilians, of babies and Holocaust survivors and women and children. I believe that they should be the first priority for release before anything else happens,” Onn said during a “NewsNation Now” interview. “Israel has to respond to what happened on Oct. 7 and what continues to happen. We’re taking rockets every day. But it can’t happen while those hostages are spread around Gaza in insecure positions.”
With a goal of hunting down Hamas block by block and tunnel by tunnel, Israel appears to be still calculating its next move. While Heinrich says different factors are being considered, she maintains Israel is united in its current strategy to terminate Hamas.
“We hold very fierce political debates, but right now, the country is united with this goal of winning and dismantling Hamas, hitting them so hard that by the end of this operation, they will lack the military capabilities and the motivation to hurt us as they did on Oct. 7. We cannot go back to Oct. 6,” Heinrich said.
She added Netanyahu is looking for more international support, especially when it comes to hostages.
“We are also calling on the international community to back us up in our demand that the Red Cross would pay a visit to examine the status of hostages,” Heinrich told Vargas.
As the war entered its 17th day Monday, the U.S. advised Israel a delay in its expected ground invasion may allow for more time to negotiate the release of hostages. Israeli’s military said more than 200 people were believed captured by Hamas and that more than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, mostly civilians in the Oct. 7 attack. Hamas said it released two elderly Israeli hostages on Monday and two Americans on Friday.