Former IDF hostage point man says Oct. 7 hostages could have been freed a year earlier

All 251 hostages abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack in southern Israel could have been released a year earlier, according to the former IDF hostage point man, who attributed the delay to “political and personal considerations.”

IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, who previously served as Israel’s hostage point man, said Israel “could have saved hostages who were killed that way, and we missed this opportunity.”

During a virtual conference hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Friday, Alon said, “If you look at what we achieved after two years of intense fighting, we could have achieved almost the same strategic achievements much earlier.” He added, “The war was too long.”

Hamas and other terrorists killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251 people into Gaza during the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

The final 20 living hostages were released last October under a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement. The remains of the last deceased hostage were returned to Israel in January 2026.

Alon said he believes the war could have ended earlier without significantly compromising Israel’s strategic objectives and strongly criticized Israeli leadership, including the prime minister.

“I assume that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as other politicians and people, looked at the situation from a strategic perspective, while at the same time he also had his political and personal considerations,” he assessed. “All of these factors are involved in the considerations.”

“I’m pretty sure we could and should have shortened the war, brought all the captives home maybe a year earlier and moved on, and maybe also saved thousands of lives on both sides of the fighting.”

“Israel needs a leadership that sees reality as it is and offers real hope, not illusions,” Alon continued. “Not a leadership that relies on slogans like ‘total victory,’ but one that provides a realistic and balanced plan to address the country’s security and economic challenges.”

Alon, who served as head of the IDF’s Central Command from 2012 to 2015, was appointed to lead the Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters, a position he held until November 2025.

He added that there has been “a lot of tension, maybe some conflict between the goals of the war, between eliminating Hamas and bringing the hostages back.

The former hostage affairs chief has previously criticized Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over his role in negotiations. Last month, after Smotrich took credit for the return of all the hostages, Alon said the minister had opposed some proposed agreements at various stages.

Of the 251 hostages, 166 were returned alive and 85 were returned deceased. Of those who died, 44 had already been murdered when they were abducted on the day of the attack, while 41 died during their captivity in Gaza.