Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video address ahead of the Passover holiday, said Israel would soon launch more painful attacks on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.
In a Sunday video, Netanyahu announced “more painful blows” against Hamas, saying “this will happen soon.”
Israel has been announcing for some time a military operation in the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt, despite warnings from its allies.
The Easter holiday begins on Monday night.
In negotiations for a ceasefire in exchange for the release of more Palestinian hostages and prisoners, Hamas recently hardened its position, Netanyahu explained.
“Instead of deviating from its radical positions, Hamas is now building division among us, emboldened by the pressure exerted on the Israeli government,” Netanyahu said.
“In the coming days, we will increase military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas, because this is the only way to free our hostages and achieve our victory,” said the prime minister. So far, Hamas has rejected all mediation proposals, he said.
As a condition for the release of more hostages, Hamas demands a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a comprehensive withdrawal of Israeli troops, the return of internally displaced people to their homes, the lifting of the blockade and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip . .
Israel and Hamas have been negotiating indirectly for months about a ceasefire and the release of more hostages who were kidnapped in the Hamas massacre on October 7.
Until a few weeks ago, Israel assumed that just under 100 of the remaining 130 hostages were still alive. However, it is now feared that significantly more of them are already dead.
