The former head of the Political and Security Department in the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Amos Gilad, considered on Thursday that the Israeli army’s invasion of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip does not guarantee the return of Israeli detainees held by Palestinian factions.

Gilad said in an interview with FM 103 radio: “Our entry into Rafah does not guarantee the return of the kidnapped people.”

Claiming that it is the "last stronghold of Hamas," Israel insists on invading Rafah, despite increasing international warnings of possible catastrophic repercussions in light of the presence of about 1.4 million displaced people in the city.

However, Israeli Army Radio revealed on Thursday that Tel Aviv is looking for alternatives to the invasion of Rafah, but it insists on carrying out an operation in the Philadelphia (Salah al-Din) axis on the Palestinian border with Egypt.

Gilad added: “If we enter Rafah without coordination with the Egyptians and Americans, you will not provide a solution to the north (Lebanon front), and there will be a long-term war that will extend to all of Israel and we will lose the strategic alliance and the expansion of peace.”

He explained, "This will make us lose the ability to deal with the main threat (Iran), which is much greater than the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. He is simply not the main power here in the Middle East."

Gilad considered that "the main threat is Iran, and if Sinwar sits and sees a rift between us and the United States, and arrest orders from international courts, there will be no regional alliances, and who achieved all this? It is Sinwar, who can still continue to remain there."

He continued: "Even if Sinwar pursues him in Rafah, this may be a long-term war that will expand into a war with the north."

Gilad claimed, "Sinwar wants us to leave Gaza so that he can restore his evil rule. He considers himself to have many strategic achievements, and believes that he is capable of achieving our complete withdrawal, and this is what he seeks."

He criticized the Israeli government, saying: "While the Israeli army is doing a good job, the government has no strategy."

He justified his criticism by saying: “If the government does not link the strategy to military achievements, such as what will happen the next day (of the war), and who will rule (Gaza after the war), how can we eliminate Hamas civilianly? We need to rehabilitate Gaza, give them a horizon and join an axis.” A strategy in the Middle East as a response to Iran.

He stressed, "The important thing is to return the kidnapped people. We must return them as a target. Sinwar must be declared a target until his regime collapses, even if it takes years."

Gilad's statements come after the private Cairo News Channel, citing a high-ranking Egyptian source, reported on Thursday that there was "positive progress" in the ongoing indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian factions regarding a prisoner exchange deal and a truce in the Gaza Strip.