Israel’s far-right minister says captives will only return after Hamas is destroyed

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has hit back at criticism levelled at him for saying that securing the return of captives from Gaza is currently “not the most important thing” for Israel.

“We must win and destroy Hamas and only then will we also be able to return the kidnapped to their families and free an entire country from captivity,” he wrote on X.

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