Israeli Ambassador to Georgia Hadas Meitzad says Israel is ready to end the war in the Gaza Strip as soon as tomorrow—if Hamas disarms, releases the hostages, and its leaders leave the region.

According to the ambassador, Israel’s goal is not to remain in Gaza after the war, but it will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens.

In the interview, the diplomat also claims that the United Nations cooperates with the terrorist organization Hamas, citing what she sees as a biased assessment of the parties involved in the conflict. She states that, unfortunately, the UN has become part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

How does the State of Israel view the current political situation in Georgia? What is Israel’s long-term strategic vision for Gaza? And how does official Tel Aviv respond to international criticism? - Israeli Ambassador to Georgia Hadas Meitzad addressed these and other issues in an exclusive interview with InterpressNews.

Following the October 26 elections, Georgia has experienced a period of political instability, with numerous opposition parties and demonstrators calling for new elections and the release of detained protesters. How does the State of Israel view the current situation in Georgia, and what is its position regarding the political processes taking place in the country?

We are following very closely the situation since the election. At the end of the day, the legitimacy comes from the people and only from the people. And the way I see it, it's an internal process that should be owned by the Georgian people. I can say that we are all seeing what's been happening all over the world. Polarization and heated political debates are not taking place only in Georgia. It's almost three years now that I have been living here and I got to know the country, but mostly the people. And what I'm truly wishing is for an inclusive dialogue. That the space will be found for all the different parts of the society to be able to have an inclusive conversation.

In recent weeks, tensions have grown between the leadership of Georgia’s ruling party and the ambassadors of several EU member states. Georgian government often interprets the comments and actions of the ambassadors as an interference in the county’s internal affairs. As a diplomat, how do you assess the current state of diplomatic engagement in Georgia? In your view, what boundaries should both foreign diplomats and host governments observe to maintain constructive and respectful relations?

I will say two things about this issue. One, when we are in a country serving as a diplomat, as Ambassadors, we are representing the will of our state. We are being instructed by the government, we are representing them. I'm representing the state of Israel policies. What we as diplomates say, are not our personal desire, and that is something that should be remembered, that it is about relations between the states. I will also say that at the end of the day, it's each country and its own policies. At the end of the day, it is a relation that has been between the different states, between the people for many years, and how this affects the conversation. I'm not going to comment specifically, because it's not my place to comment or to ambassadors or to the government.

My next questions are focused on Israel and ongoing war. The Gaza Strip remains one of the most volatile regions globally. Since Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in over 1,200 Israeli deaths and the abduction of around 250 hostages, the conflict has escalated into a devastating war. What is Israel’s long-term strategic vision for Gaza once the military operations conclude?

The war has been going on for a long time, and this is very difficult on both sides. We're seeing suffering and loss on both sides. And as you rightly pointed, this war started because of the horrific attack that Hamas launched against the State of Israel almost a year and a half ago. What is Israel’s strategy? The strategy is not to have Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip, because this will only lead to a repetition of what we have seen. For us, this war can be finished tomorrow. Hamas needs to release the hostages. Fifty-eight hostages are still there. Yesterday, we marked 600 days of captivity of people like Alon Ohel, who is 24 years old. We know that he is being chained to a wall underground without medical treatment, despite the fact that he is injured. He carries injuries from October 7, 2023. Six hundred days without medical care, without sufficient food, water, daylight. He is chained to a wall like an animal. Even animals shouldn't be treated like this. If Hamas will release the hostages, if Hamas will disarm and let them go, the war can be over tomorrow. And this is what we have been saying and will continue to say. It's not a private affair only happening between us and Hamas. It affects everything, and the future should be one that Hamas has no place in it. What Hamas was telling to hostages was that, there will be no State of Israel. They said they are going to continue until the full destruction of the State of Israel. They are the aggressors, but then they are playing the victim in order to get the world's attention. If we want a better future, we need Hamas not to be part of it.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has recently stated that Gaza must be fully demilitarized, that Hamas must relinquish power, and that Israel should maintain overarching security control in the territory, aligning with the proposed Trump peace plan. Benjamin Netanyahu said “all the territory of Gaza will be under Israeli security control, and Hamas will be totally defeated…We are ready to end the war, under clear conditions that will ensure the safety of Israel – all the hostages come home, Hamas lays down its arms, steps down from power, its leadership is exiled from the Strip… In your opinion, how realistic and achievable are these goals?

We are not talking about Israel control over the Gaza, the Prime Minister was very clear about it. We are talking about having security assurances, we cannot find ourselves again in the same situation as we were. It means that if I am now aware of a threat, that I have the ability to interdict that threat. But it's not about controlling the whole of Gaza. As I said, for us to go on to live next to this fanatical, radical, murderous terroristic organization, this, it will not happen. We need as a state to secure the safety of our citizens. And nobody will be willing to continue living when you know that a few kilometers from you, you have people with the intention, the will, and also unfortunately the arms to hurt you . When we are talking about the future of Gaza, we are talking about a thorough process of deradicalization. It's true, it has to be demilitarized, and it has to go through a process of deradicalization. I can no longer look the other way when I'm seeing the textbooks, the incitement, how kids are being brainwashed to hate, their Israeli neighbors, and this also has to be dealt with.

Let's imagine if Hamas is fully defeated and it doesn't exist anymore. Do you think that the Israeli militants should be on the territory of Gaza if the organization disappears?

I think it's a very lengthy process. There is a growing understanding, I think, in the region that Gaza is not the sole problem of Israel to solve, that it should be solved together with many other stakeholders that should be part of it. I think that nothing is going to be an immediate process. At the end of the day, we, as the Prime Minister has stated are not there to stay – but we need to see that our security is guaranteed because first and foremost, our obligation is to secure safety for our people.

There are so many stories, I'm sure that some of them you already heard before. Former Hamas hostage, Gadi Moses has been in Tbilisi a few days ago. He lost many of his friends. Among them was one of his close friends Oded Lifshitz, who spent all his life as being a very strong peace activist, for the last decade, has been volunteering to take Palestinians that suffer from the cancer disease and to bring them to Israeli hospitals, and often even to pay for the treatment, in order for them to receive treatment. He was murdered. A person that dedicated his life for coexistence, was murdered. We cannot repeat that.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza has severely deteriorated since the blockade implemented in March 2025, with critical shortages of food, water, medicine, and shelter. The World Food Programme reported that by late April, all its food stocks in Gaza were depleted. UNICEF has warned that nearly all children in Gaza require psychological support, with approximately 66,000 suffering from severe malnutrition. The United Nations has urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza to address the dire needs of the population. Israel’s fight against terrorist group Hamas is resulted by thousands of deaths and suffer of more than 2 million people. Do you believe there were alternative strategies Israel could have employed to neutralize the Hamas threat without triggering such extensive civilian suffering?

This is a very important question. Yes, this is a very long war, and there is suffering on both sides. Are there shortages in Gaza? Yes. Were there starvation? – the answer is - NO. Israel has been monitoring very, very closely the situation in Gaza, and when we have seen that the shortage is becoming more severe, humanitarian aid starts going in. First of all, when we had the last ceasefire, between January to March, almost half a million tons of humanitarian aid entered Gaza. The biggest challenge here is that Hamas put its hand on a big part or even most of this humanitarian aid, monetizing it, using it to recruit new terrorists and even to purchase arms. We have hostages. We need them to be released. We need Hamas to be weakened. But when I'm trying to assist the population of Gaza, Hamas is using it. We are in fully compliance with the international law, but nowhere in the law is said that you should assist your enemy. This week the Gaza Return Fund, which is an American company, opened four centers where they are distributing meals, food packages to the population. They already distributed, if I'm not mistaken, a million and a half of meals to the population of Gaza. What we are also seeing Hamas trying to block them from reaching to those centers.

We have seen yesterday how the people in Gaza entered a Hamas warehouse, which is packed with food, and how Hamas is shooting them in order for those people not to get the food that Hamas stored before. This goes back to all the quotations that you heard by the different UN heads of agencies. Unfortunately, I'm seeing the UN cooperating with Hamas. There is no other word for it. Because I've seen the UN objection to this new mechanism because they are afraid that they will lose a monopoly, but at the same time, I haven't heard the UN criticizing even once Hamas shooting its own people or stealing the aid from the people for its own benefit. There is a complete quiet. I've seen reckless statements by some of the UN agencies that they are quoting Hamas propaganda, and then sometimes they are taking it back, but this is being done very quietly. We are trying to find the best way to ensure that aid is coming to the people of Gaza and not being used by Hamas. And unfortunately, the UN, instead of being part of the solution made itself part of the problem.

You have just mentioned that the UN is cooperating with Hamas, can you define it clearer? And moreover, you spoke about humanitarian crisis, but what about casualties, was it possible to minimize it?

I will start with the UN. UNRWA is an agency, a relief and work agency. It has been taken over by Hamas terrorists. For many years, even before October 7, we have been sending information showing the heads of UNRWA the level of infiltration by Hamas into this agency, and they have done nothing. We have seen UNRWA employees taking part, committing crimes on October 7. We have seen Israelis being kidnapped into UN vehicles on October 7. The head of OCHA, the UN Coordination of the Humanitarian Relief, already on October 8 tweeted that Israel should avoid the escalation.

Now to answer your second question. It's a war. It's a war that the other side is deliberately hiding behind its civilians. Every death is a tragedy. Every child that is losing its life is a tragedy. Many people have lost their life over the last year and a half, but Hamas is exaggerating even more. Hamas choose to turn hospitals and schools into their command and control center, launching rockets from there. If we listen to the other, western commanders of arms - Israel is fighting in a very precise manner, considering the situation, and there is a different story and numbers, than what Hamas, terror organization is trying to spread.

According to the latest information provided by Israel, more than 50 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Could you please share what steps Israel is currently taking to secure their release and bring them home?

Israel is engaging in what we call the Witkoff engagement. Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of the American president who has been negotiating in order to find a new agreed package to release the hostages in exchange to a ceasefire. We are fully committed. It’s on a daily basis. We have the negotiation team; we have the leadership of Israel engaging in every effort to try and bring the hostages. The challenge is on the other side. on the other side We have a very radical terror organization, and this is what makes it so difficult.

Do you have any information that they are alive at this moment?

Yes, we know according to the information that we get from former hostages. Some out of the 58 that were murdered already on October 7th, and Hamas is holding their bodies. But more than 20 are alive. And we know it from those who were released from there, because we have the people that came back in March, and a lot of them were together with other hostages. And we also see, we also have the horrible videos that Hamas is producing with the hostages every now. We know about their condition.

Additionally, during a recent ceremony marking Israel’s 77th Independence Day, Gadi Moses — a former hostage held by Hamas for 482 days — spoke about his experience and appealed for international efforts to free those still in captivity. Could you elaborate on the key messages he delivered during the ceremony, and whether he has held any meetings during his visit?

Gadi Moses was here. Gadi Moses is a very personal story for us here, because of his special connection with Georgia. Last year Independence Day event was dedicated to him, when he was still a hostage, it was dedicated to praying, to see him coming here to Georgia. Gadi is a very resilient man. He's an 81-year-old man that has been working the land of Israel and also in many other countries, including Georgia. He is a strong, solid farmers, he is connected to the land. So Gadi is committed to rebuilding, to the renewal of his community that was affected in the most horrific way on October 7th. And at the same time, also the importance of assuring that none of this will happen again. I believe in the human nature, and we have to ensure that this will not repeat itself.

Former Hamas hostages are meeting with world leaders wherever they go, with presidents and prime ministers and foreign affairs. Here in Georgia, we asked for such meeting but there were schedule complication apparently. A meeting took place with the Minister of Agriculture. It was a very good and warm meeting, and it makes sense, considering Gadi's investment in agriculture. For us, the hostages is a humanitarian issue. This is a purely humanitarian issue. This is about the basic human rights, not to agree to people being kidnapped from their houses and disappearing for so many days without a sign of life or any basic assistance.

Recent months have seen mounting criticism of Israel’s military operations. Spain's Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has proposed sanctions against Israel and urged the international community to recognize the State of Palestine. Recently, the UK, France and Canada published a declaration demanding that the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu end its military campaign against the people of Gaza and lift the months-long food and medical blockade, which threatens widespread famine in the Gaza Strip. The three countries threatened Tel Aviv with "concrete measures" if it does not comply with their demands. “Israel, we’ve been talking to them, and we want to see if we can stop that whole situation as quickly as possible,” – told Donald Trump told to reporters. How would you characterize Israel’s current diplomatic relationships with its long-standing Western partners? Has Israel’s international image and credibility been significantly affected?

We have a very close and intimate dialogue with many of our friends all over the world. First of all, you have to differentiate where the critical statement is coming from, because if it's coming from a place that, to begin with, was not supportive of Israel's right to bring back our people – then it’s one thing- Then whether it's coming from a different partner. At the end of the day, we're listening. We have all this relation, and it is important. We are listening. We are talking. There are points that we might disagree. At the end of the day, I might choose my national interest, my security interest, even at the cost of some degradation, temporary degradation in the relation. But what is important is that we have an open channel, that the foreign minister of Israel is constantly talking with his counterparts as well as the prime minister. There is a conversation. They can convey their concerns and their worries, and we will convey where we stand and how we think that this should be handled. Everybody wants to end the suffering, but we want to end it in a way that it will not happen again. And let me be clear We are fighting this war in a very accurate and according to the international law.

On November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Gaza conflict. Additionally, organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Israel of serious violations. What is Israel’s official response to these allegations and to the ICC’s actions?

The fact that there are two warrants against Israeli leaders in of a democratic, liberal country in the Middle East and there is no warrant on anyone on the Hamas side. To start with the ICC not only did we reject the allegation, but we also reject the jurisdiction. And about a month ago the members of the Appeal Committee have sent back the file to the jury and told them that they need to look into the jurisdiction. We are not members of the ICC; we are not a side of the Rome Treaty. There were many reports about the misconduct by different figures who were involved in the decision of issuing these warrants. We believe that we are seeing here a politicization of the ICC, and we fully reject it. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, we are seeing, unfortunately a human rights organization working in the benefit of Hamas. The Israeli branch of Amnesty has withdrawn from Amnesty International because they said the Israeli rights, are not being reflected. It means, that from Amnesty appoint of view it is human rights, abut if it's only if it is s the Palestinian human rights. I'm sorry to say, but if you want to be a human rights organization, and you choose to ignore the Israeli side because it doesn't serve your agenda that it's only the Palestinians who are suffering, you lose all your credibility, and then you lose any way of holding a conversation and actually have any influence.

Israel has maintained a relatively cautious position regarding the Russian war of Ukraine. How do you evaluate the current status of the conflict, and what are Israel’s views on the prospects for a sustainable and lasting peace in the region?

Since the beginning of the war, we have done a lot of humanitarian operation assistance in Ukraine, in Israel, to assistance, to support Ukraine. At this point in time, we are looking at the American mediation effort. We are truly wishing for their success, a solution that will bring to the end of this war.

We have been supporting Ukraine in a humanitarian way. At the beginning, there has been a lot of assistance, whether in equipment, whether in humanitarian equipment, whether in supporting. We did a lot of training for psychological and first aiders in order to deal with the process with the trauma. But at some point, our focus is on the war that we are fighting. And to speak about Russia, we didn't cut the ties with Russia. This is not our policy. This is not what we believe. And we are in full compliance, of course, to the Western sanction. And we believe that even when a critical dialogue is taking place, you need to have a dialogue in order to find a solution. This is generally our approach when it comes to foreign policy.

Beka Beriashvili

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