Rabbi Shimon Or, uncle of hostage Avinatan Or, addressed the new Witkoff initiative, telling the ynet studio that "this is a cruel and immoral deal that does not achieve its goal. All these attempts will leave Hamas ruling Gaza." According to him, "I oppose the deal. Netanyahu is trapped in the October 6 mindset of making deals with Hamas. Even if there is an agreement to stop the war, they won't return all the hostages because the hostages are their insurance policy."