Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) spoke to Israel National News – Arutz Sheva about the deal reached with the Hamas terrorist organization to free 50 of the 240 hostages who are being held in Gaza.

“It’s a very complicated issue, because we are dealing with the devil. Hamas – this is the devil on earth,” Akunis explained. “But we said that we will do whatever is necessary to bring out hostages home to Israel, to their families.”

“If you want to be a leader, you need to decide in the difficult moments, not in the easiest moments. So I voted [in favor], with the majority of the government,” he said.

He stated emphatically that the four-day pause in fighting Israel agreed to as part of the hostage deal is not the end of the war against Hamas, but is “just the beginning.”

“It’s not a ceasefire, it’s not the end. We will continue the war, and we will defeat the evil,” he said.

Minister Akunis said that Israel has two main goals, the first of which is “to be sure that we will not see the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip at all.”

The second is “to bring all our people home to Israel, to their families.”

Source