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Israel could’ve ended Gaza war, freed captives sooner: Israel ex-negotiator

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Al Jazeera Staff. (2026, October 2). Israel could’ve ended Gaza war, freed captives sooner: Israel ex-negotiator. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/2/israel-couldve-ended-gaza-war-freed-captives-sooner-israel-ex-negotiator?traffic_source=rss

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Al Jazeera · collected 2026-10-02 · by Al Jazeera Staff

Quick Summary

Major General Nitzan Alon, a former Israeli hostage negotiation specialist, stated that Israel could have secured the release of all captives and ended its conflict with Hamas much earlier than October 2025 without compromising other strategic goals. Speaking at a Washington Institute for Near East Policy webcast, he criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on achieving total victory before negotiating and argued that an earlier deal could have saved thousands of lives. The article highlights Alon's belief that the prolonged war was unnecessary and that Israel missed an opportunity to conclude the conflict sooner through prisoner exchanges.
Written by AI on 2026-10-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Israeli Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, who was involved in hostage negotiations during the initial phase of the Gaza war, stated at a Washington Institute forum that all captives in Gaza could have been freed a year earlier without altering the war's outcome. The conflict began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to a prolonged war that has resulted in over 74,000 Palestinian deaths. Alon criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for total victory before signing a deal, calling it "false," and urged for new "realistic" Israeli leadership.

Written for “Gaza War Negotiations” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Gaza War Negotiations
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 30% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Straits Times
Hedges 2 of 44 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different stages of the situation: Article A discusses negotiations and potential earlier release of captives, while Article B focuses on the freed hostages' experiences after their release.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 2 of 31 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A describes Israel tracking down and killing a Hamas terrorist, while Article B discusses potential earlier resolution to hostage negotiations during the war.”
Zeteo
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 1 of 9 claims
“The articles discuss different topics related to Middle Eastern conflicts and diplomatic failures, but do not describe the same specific incident.”
The Free Press
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this Hedges 2 of 15 claims Outlet record 96/100
“The articles discuss different topics related to Israel's conflicts but do not describe the same specific incident.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 1 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects related to the conflict in Gaza but describe distinct events, one about a film and its criticism by the IDF and another about a former general's opinion on negotiations.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Free Press
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 96/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of events related to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, but do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
The Free Press
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 96/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Gaza conflict: one focuses on hostage negotiations and their timing, while the other discusses a book about Israel's war room during the invasion.”
The Free Press
Hedges 0 of 26 claims Outlet record 96/100
“The articles discuss different aspects related to hostages during and after the Gaza war but do not describe the same specific incident or time.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 6 of 30 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles refer to different periods and aspects of the conflict, with Article A focusing on a specific negotiation point and timing for releasing captives, while Article B provides an overview of three years of the war's impact.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
30%
6 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
60/100
Al Jazeera's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-02 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Al Jazeera · 4452 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Al Jazeera Staff
760 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
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Topics

Hamas Israel Israeli Palestinians the Gaza war

Subjects

Israeli NORP · 11× Hamas ORG · 7× Israel GPE · 6× Alon PERSON · 5× Netanyahu PERSON · 4× Palestinians NORP · 2× 3UK GPE · 1× British NORP · 1× Nitzan Alon PERSON · 1× RAF ORG · 1×

Narrative

Recommended Stories list of 3 items- list 1 of 3UK arrests British-Iranian suspect over RAF ‘plot’: What we know - list 2 of 3Arab party leader forced to withdraw from Israeli elections - list 3 of 3How can Jordan respond to Israel’s escalation across the West Bank? He was speaking during a Washington Institute for Near East Policy webcast marking three years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel preceding the genocidal war that has killed over 74,000 Palestinians.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-02
🔮 A former Israeli general who was the army’s point person for hostage negotiations at the beginning of the Gaza war says that a deal to return all Israeli captives could have been achieved “much earlier” than October 2025 but it was prolonged unnecessarily.

Claims (20 extracted, 6 hedged)

A former Israeli general who was the army’s point person for hostage negotiations at the beginning of the Gaza war says that a deal to return all Israeli captives could have been achieved “much earlier” than October 2025 but it was prolonged unnecessarily. uncertain
it → say → October
“I think that we could [have gotten to] this point much earlier, maybe a year earlier or so, without any major implication on the other strategic goals of the war,” Major General Nitzan Alon said on Friday. uncertain
Alon → think → Friday
“We missed it, actually. asserted
We → miss → it
Recommended Stories list of 3 items- list 1 of 3UK arrests British-Iranian suspect over RAF ‘plot’: What we know - list 2 of 3Arab party leader forced to withdraw from Israeli elections - list 3 of 3How can Jordan respond to Israel’s escalation across the West Bank? He was speaking during a Washington Institute for Near East Policy webcast marking three years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel preceding the genocidal war that has killed over 74,000 Palestinians. asserted
that → arrest → Palestinians
Alon referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Israel must achieve “total victory” before signing a deal as “false”. uncertain
Israel → refer → deal
He called the October 2025 “ceasefire” a “strategic achievement” that has since curbed Hamas’s military power. asserted
that → call → power
But he said it could have been secured much sooner with “maybe some hostages that got killed or murdered during their captivity [coming] back home alive.” uncertain
that → say → captivity
Hamas and Israel carried out a prisoner exchange deal in October 2025 under a ceasefire agreement that saw the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails and 20 Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip. “We could have – and we should have – shortened the war, brought all the hostages back, maybe a year earlier, and moved forward and maybe, you know, saved thousands of lives on both sides,” Alon told the panel discussion organised by the United States think-tank. uncertain
Alon → carry → tank
Alon had made similar comments in July, when he also criticised Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, saying Smotrich had opposed some of the agreements put forward at various stages and therefore could not take credit for the return of all the captives. uncertain
Smotrich → make → captives
‘Not just a missed opportunity, it’s tragic’ asserted
it → miss → ?
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Friday, former Israeli diplomat Alan Pinkas said Netanyahu had stalled the end of the war. asserted
Netanyahu → speak → war
“A deal was possible very soon after the Hamas attack in October 2023,” he said. asserted
he → say → October
“It took almost two years before the hostages were returned, so it’s not just a missed opportunity, it’s tragic.” asserted
it → take → years
Earlier this week, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said Israeli officials “rejected to entertain the idea” of a Hamas proposal to release all captives in exchange for a limited ceasefire soon after the attacks. asserted
officials → say → attacks
Al-Thani said Doha reached out to Israeli officials “on day one … asserted
Doha → say → day
They [Hamas leaders] are asking for a window of ceasefire to get the civilians out,” Sheikh Mohammed said in an interview with Piers Morgan. asserted
Mohammed → ask → Morgan
“And basically, they [the Israelis] were not interested to engage in the idea.” asserted
they → engage → idea
Alon’s latest comments come less than a month before Israel’s October 27 legislative election, with polls showing the political battle remains at knife-edge. Pinkas said Alon’s comments were unlikely to influence the outcome of the vote as polls already “reflect public anger” over the Netanyahu government’s failure to prevent the Hamas attacks. asserted
polls → come → attacks
A report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz claiming that United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had warned Netanyahu about a possible attack also sparked outrage across Israel last month. asserted
Nahyan → claim → Israel
Netanyahu said he would sue the outlet over its report, which he described as “fabricated” and “false”. asserted
he → say → which
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