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A retired major general for the Israeli Defense Forces who rescued his family and others during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack touted President Trump’s peace deal — but is calling on the president to keep the pressure on Hamas and Israel as high-stakes negotiations begin.
Noam Tibon, 63, touted Trump’s 20-point peace deal as the best plan yet to rescue the 48 hostages in Gaza and end the bloody conflict, urging the president to stand strong as Hamas and Israeli negotiators argue about the details.
“If I could tell him anything, it would be, ‘Don’t let anyone stop or sabotage this deal,’” Tibon told The Post.
“So many deals have been on the table, but Hamas and the Netanyahu government have walked away… the deal we have now is our best bet to bring the hostages home, and it’s the best deal for the security of Israel,” he added.
The outcome of Trump’s peace proposal hangs in the balance as Hamas and Israeli negotiators meet in Egypt on Monday for indirect talks.
Trump and his allies have put increased pressure on both sides to accept the terms of the deal, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, an exchange of all the 48 hostages, a staged withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, and the creation of a transitional government spearheaded by an international body.
Tibon described the deal as the key to ending the suffering of the hostages, only 20 of whom are still believed to be alive, as the retired general and millions in Israel prepare to mark the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attack.
Tibon was enjoying the Sukkot holiday with his wife at a Tel Aviv beach when they received a message from their son on their WhatsApp family group chat, informing them that Hamas terrorists had stormed their Kibbutz.
“I told him to take everyone and lock up inside the bunker, stay quiet, and I would call for the military to come,” Tibon said of the desperate moment.
Armed with only a pistol, Tibon and his wife, Gali, embarked on a nearly two-hour race to the Kibbutz Nahal Oz to save their son and his family.
Along the way, the couple rescued survivors who were fleeing from the Nova music festival massacre, with Tibon and his wife driving as many people as they could away from the border.
The retired general fought alongside IDF soldiers to take back Nahal Oz, with five soldiers killed and three wounded before he got to his son’s neighborhood.
While Gali drove the wounded to the hospital, Tibon made his way to his son’s house in the destroyed kibbutz.
“The happiest moment of my life was when I knocked on the window to tell them they were finally safe, and I heard my granddaughter yell from inside, ‘Grandpa is here!,’” he said.
Tibon’s journey has since been made into a film, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” which premiered last week in the US after winning the People’s Choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
It’s that bittersweet reunion between families that witnessed the unspeakable evil of the terror attack that Tibon wishes for those still waiting for their loved ones to return.
“Since that day, I’ve been fighting for the hostages, because, frankly, it could have just as easily been my family who was kidnapped that day,” Tibon noted.
“Right now, the hostages come first, and President Trump needs to know that he has the support of the people of Israel.”
