Settlement Minister Orit Strock has said that if there is a proposal for a prisoner swap deal similar to the November 2023 deal, she will support it.
Speaking to 103 FM Radio, Strock said that any deal must focus on releasing the hostages, while ensuring the continuation of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
"If there is a deal similar to the first deal, then we will certainly support it," she told 103 FM. "If there is a deal that allows the continued elimination of Hamas, from a civil and governance perspective, and the fulfillment of the goals of the war - we'll support it."
However, she stressed, "A deal which allows Hamas to return to its former strength, or that harms the goals of the war - we will not be able to support such a thing."
Criticizing the continued humanitarian aid to Gaza - around half of which is stolen by Hamas - she said that the aid was approved despite opposition by herself and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich: "I have been screaming about this for months already. To my understanding, this incident is going to conclude in the coming weeks."
Regarding resettling Gaza, she said, "In this war, we are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with people whose perspectives are different than mine, and therefore the settlement of Gaza is not part of the goals."
On the ceasefire deal signed between Israel and Lebanon, and the concept of "normalization," she said, "There is no normalization in Lebanon. For strategic reasons, we agreed to a ceasefire, but it is conditioned on a letter from the US President allowing Israel full freedom of operations against any violation and threat. At this stage, we do not call for residents to return to their homes."