Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday there will be no fuel delivered to Gaza and no ceasefire with Hamas unless hostages seized by the Palestinian militants are freed.
In a televised statement marking the first month of Israel’s war with Hamas, Netanyahu also warned Iran-backed Hezbollah “it will be making the mistake of its life” if it opens a new front in the war from its base in Lebanon.
The Israel-Hamas war started on October 7 when fighters from the Islamist group burst out of the Gaza Strip and into southern Israel.
According to Israel, Hamas militants killed some 1,400 people — mostly civilians — and seized more than 240 hostages, in the worst attack on the nation since its founding in 1948.
In response Israel has launched a withering assault on Hamas in the Palestinian enclave it rules, home to some 2.4 million people.
The Hamas-run health ministry there says more than 10,300 people — also mostly civilians — have been killed by Israel’s offensive.
There have been increasing international calls for a ceasefire or “pause” in fighting as the conflict enters its second month.
But Netanyahu said there would be “no entry of gasoline… no ceasefire without the release of our hostages”.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.