Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed to increasing the military pressure on Hamas-despite the terrorist group’s offer to release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent cease-fire, reports Reuters.
In a television address at the end of the evening on Saturday evening, Netanyahu rejected the agreement on the table, doubled a military campaign which, according to Hamas, has killed 51,000 Palestinians since the start of the war.
“Israel has no choice but to continue fighting for our very existence, until victory,” said Netanyahu.
“Putting an end to the war under these conditions of surrender would send a message to all the enemies of Israel that the Israelis by removing can put Israel on their knees.”
Under the proposed agreement, the remaining 59 hostages would have returned, including the Israelian soldier Edan Alexander. Hamas says Alexander’s fate is now unknown because an Israeli air strike killed the activist who held him. His family, like many others, pleaded with Israeli and American officials to prioritize their return safely.
Netanyahu did not mention the American in his speech, but rather pointed out that he did not intend to end the bombardments. Israeli defense forces have been invited to intensify operations through Gaza, where the Ministry of Health controlled by Hamas alleged more than 1,600 Palestinians in the last month.
The climbing follows a ventilation of cease-fire talks, Hamas insisting that any release of hostages must have a permanent end of hostilities-something that Netanyahu has rejected several times.
“Hamas demands the full withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from Gaza, including the Philadelphi corridor, and the security stamp that protects the Israeli Hamas terror communities,” he said.
“It would prove that terrorism pays and that this message would endanger everyone free.”
The position of the Israeli leader puts it in place against national and international pressure to conclude an agreement. Critics claim that Netanyahu extends war to protect his own political survival and avoid having to respond to the accusations of corruption, fraud and corruption he is currently confronted. The hostage families accused him of prioritizing total victory over the lives of their loved ones.
The speech occurred only a few hours after Hamas published another video hostage – this time, showing the Israeli captive Elkana Bohbot pleading for his life. “How long will he become to wait and” stay strong “?” His family asked.
International efforts to resume negotiations between the two parties continue. Surviving hostages have now been detained by Hamas for 561 days, because they were taken by the group to obtain a lever effect on Israel as part of the mass murder attacks of October 7 against the Israelis living near the Gaza Strip.
