Tel Aviv, Israel: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will stop the war in Gaza even if a deal to release more hostages is reached.
His remarks could complicate negotiations on a new ceasefire that appears unstoppable after Hamas released the gesture of U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.
They pointed to a possible widening rift between Netanyahu and Trump, and they expressed hope that the release of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander on Monday would be a step towards the end of the 19-month war.
Netanyahu said in a comment from his office on Tuesday’s visit to injured soldiers, Netanyahu said Israeli forces are only a few days away from the promised escalation of force and will enter Gaza “with great power to complete the mission. … This means destroying Hamas.”
The Prime Minister said any ceasefire agreement reached is temporary. If Hamas says they will release more hostages, “We will take them and we will go in. But we will not be able to stop the war,” Netanyahu said. “We can have a ceasefire for a while, but we will end.”
Hamas said it will only release the rest of the hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. Disputes over whether to end the conflict have been a major obstacle to negotiations for more than a year.
Israel said 58 hostages remained in captivity, with as many as 23 saying they were alive, although authorities expressed concern about three of them. On October 7, 2023, of the 250 hostages that began the war, 250 were released in the ceasefire deal.
Negotiations between Hamas and the Trump administration appear to largely bypass Israel after the hostage release comments released by 21-year-old Alexander on Monday, which did not concessions to his release.
Alexander was 19 years old when he was taken from Israeli troops in the 2023 attack, the first hostages since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in March and a violent strike against Gaza killed hundreds of Palestinians.
“This is a step in sincerity to the United States, an effort by Qatar and Egypt to end this very cruel war and return hostages of all living people to their loved ones,” Trump said on the truth of the social media platform on Sunday night. “Hopefully this is the last step needed to end this cruel conflict. I’m very concerned about the celebrations that day!”
Israel has promised to intensify its offensive, including capturing Gaza and displaced much of the region’s population again. A few days after the ceasefire ended in March, Israel blocked all imports into the Palestinian enclave, deepening the humanitarian crisis and triggering warnings about the risk of famine if there is no lockdown. Israel said the steps were intended to force Hamas to accept a ceasefire agreement on Israeli terms.
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that 57 children have died from malnutrition since the lockdown began on March 2, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Also on Tuesday, the Israeli military attacked what it called Hamas’ “command and control center”, located under a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. The strike at European hospitals was the second day of a hospital in the city.
The bodies of six people killed during a strike Tuesday afternoon were taken to Nasser Hospital, where the Associated Press reporters saw the bodies. Earlier Tuesday, Israel attacked Nasser Hospital, saying militants were operating in it, but they were not confirmed. Two people, including a reporter targeting an earlier strike, were killed.
Netanyahu faces criticism of Alexander’s release has strong opposition to Netanyahu, who accused the lives of hostages of putting war on the lives of the hostages at risk. Netanyahu said he was committed to returning all hostages, destroying Hamas, and relocating most of Gaza’s population through what he called “voluntary immigration.”
During a nearly two-hour meeting with hostage families in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump administration hostage envoy Adam Boehler said they would do what they needed to bring the rest of the hostages home.
Everyone wants a diplomatic solution, and most hostages are released through diplomacy, Vikov said. After the meeting, officials headed to Doha, Qatar to join President Donald Trump who visited the region. Qatar has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas.
Vikov said they would not go to Qatar if they thought there was no real opportunity for negotiations to progress.
Israel seeks to move Palestinians out of Gaza, the Gaza Netanyahu, expressed support for Trump’s plan to move Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip after the war – a proposal that angered Palestinians and Arab countries.
“We formed a government that gets them out, but our problem is the country we need to accept,” Netanyahu said on Monday during a visit to the injured soldiers. “That’s what we’re working on right now. If you give them approval, I’ll tell you that more than 50% of people will leave, I want to have more.”
Israel and the United States have been looking for Palestinians who are willing to take away Palestinians who may move out of their territory.
In the 2023 attack, Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israel’s retaliatory offensive killed more than 52,800 Palestinians, many of whom were women and children, and that did not say how many were combatants or civilians.
Israel’s offensive destroyed extensive fragments of Gaza’s urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, usually multiple times.
