The extremist leader said the approximately 130 Israelis still held hostage by Hamas will never be freed, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected the terrorist group's terms to end the war. Ta.
“In exchange for the release of the hostages, Hamas demands an end to the war, the withdrawal of troops from Gaza and the release of all murderers and rapists,” Netanyahu said in a video address.
“And leave Hamas intact. I completely reject the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas,” he added.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, countered that Bibi's refusal to halt military attacks in the territory “means there is no chance for Islamic State to return.” [Israeli] They were abducted in a terrorist attack by the same group on October 7.
In late November, more than 100 of the estimated 240 hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 attack were Palestinians held in Israeli prisons under an agreement brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt. was released in exchange for the release of
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under increasing pressure to secure the release of the 136 hostages remaining in Gaza.
Relatives of the hostage demanded action at a protest in front of his residence late Sunday.
“We need to resolve the problem the government has caused now and bring the hostages home immediately,” Hersh Goldberg-Polin's father, John Pollin, said, according to Reuters.
The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum called on the Prime Minister to make it clear that he would not abandon the civilians, soldiers and others abducted in October's disaster.
“We must move forward with a deal now. If the prime minister decides to sacrifice hostages, he should show leadership and honestly share his position with the Israeli people,” the group said in a statement. Stated.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu has taken a stronger stance than before on the issue of establishing a Palestinian state.
“We will not compromise on Israel's complete security control over all territory west of the Jordan River,” he said.
On Friday, President Joe Biden said he spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu about possible solutions to establishing an independent Palestinian state and suggested one path could involve a demilitarized government.
Prime Minister Netanyahu then appeared to object to Mr. Biden's comments regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state after the end of the Israel-Hamas war. This is because the two leaders have not agreed.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his insistence on “Israel's complete security control over all territory west of Jordan.”
He said he had strongly stood up to “international and domestic pressure” to change this position and would continue to do so.
“Thanks to my advocacy, the establishment of a Palestinian state that could have posed an existential threat to Israel was prevented for years,” the prime minister said.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday that 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday called the scale of the civilian death toll “heartbreaking and completely unacceptable.”
“Israeli military operations have escalated mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as Secretary-General,” Guterres said at a world summit in Uganda.
U.S. intelligence officials told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that Israel has only killed about 20 to 30 percent of Hamas's estimated 25,000 to 30,000 fighters, and Israeli Defense Force officials said He claimed that he had overinflated the number of enemy casualties during the more than three-month war.
