Ex-Captive Directorate Chief: Israel Missed Chance to Free All Hostages a Year Earlier

Nitzan Alon, former head of the Captives and Missing Persons Directorate, stated on Friday that Israel could have secured the release of all hostages a year before the recent deal, without impacting the war's outcome. He suggested this missed opportunity might have saved hostages who were subsequently killed. Alon made these remarks during a discussion at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

His comments echo concerns raised by families of hostages and fallen soldiers. Last month, these families held a press conference demanding a state commission of inquiry into the failures leading to the October 7th massacre and the subsequent handling of the hostage crisis. Natalia Kasroti, whose son Keshet was murdered at the Nova music festival, shared a recording of his final call to MDA, expressing her ongoing trauma.

Noam Peri, whose father Haim was kidnapped and murdered in Hamas captivity, corroborated reports that Israel received an offer in the early days of the war to return all abducted civilians. Peri stated she personally heard confirmations of this offer in November and December 2023 from various sources, asserting that Israel received the proposal but did not respond, as it was not a priority. "My father and dozens of other hostages could have returned to us alive," Peri said, criticizing the Prime Minister's Rosh Hashanah greeting which claimed all hostages had been returned, calling it a "great lie" as the offer that could have saved her father in the first week was ignored.

The families also released a document attributing the October 7th massacre not to a single decision or isolated failure, but to years of policy, inaction, and ignored warnings that created a security reality enabling Hamas's attack. Opposition party leaders have called for the public to be informed about what Prime Minister Netanyahu knew.