Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has announced four principles that must be included in any hostage release agreement with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
The office said the declaration “moved Hamas towards negotiations due to the prime minister’s firm stance against attempts to block the IDF’s actions in Rafah,” a city in the southern Gaza Strip that is considered Hamas’ last stronghold after months of fighting in the war-torn region.
The principles are as follows:
“Any agreement would allow Israel to resume fighting until all war objectives have been achieved.”
Israel has repeatedly insisted that its military operation against Hamas will not end until the Palestinian terrorist group is eliminated.
On July 4, Israeli tanks conducted training exercises near the Israel-Gaza border. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
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Netanyahu, who made the pledge in late June, had said several months earlier that “Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or evacuating its civilians.”
“Our goal is to rid Gaza of Hamas terrorists and release the hostages. Once this is achieved, Gaza will be demilitarized and rid of extremists, which will create the possibility of a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on X in January.
“There will be no arms smuggling from Egypt to the Gaza border to Hamas.”
In June, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released video footage showing tunnels allegedly used by Hamas to smuggle weapons from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. The Israel Times.
The Israel Defense Forces have discovered and destroyed an underground rocket manufacturing facility in the Gaza Strip. (Photo courtesy of the IDF Spokesperson Unit)
The media reported that at least 20 tunnels have been discovered leading from Egypt to the Gaza Strip.
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Throughout the nine-month war, Israeli forces have uncovered a maze of tunnels across the Gaza Strip that are essential to Hamas’ movements and military operations.
“Thousands of armed terrorists will not return to the northern Gaza Strip.”
The Prime Minister’s Office is adamant that in its vision for a post-war Gaza, armed terrorists should not be allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said on Friday “Up to 1.9 million people are internally displaced in Gaza, including some who have been displaced nine or ten times.”
“Previous estimates put the number at 1.7 million, but this was before the operation in Rafah and further displacement has occurred from Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip since May,” the agency added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has released a list of principles that must be included in any hostage release agreement with Hamas. (Pool Photo by Abir Sultan/via Associated Press)
“Israel will maximize the number of surviving hostages released from Hamas captivity.”
It is believed that around 116 hostages have been held by Hamas since the war began on October 7 last year.
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Over the past nine months, 109 hostages have been freed, seven have been rescued by the IDF, and 19 bodies have been retrieved by the army from Gaza, including three who were mistakenly killed by the military.
Fox News’ Yonat Frilling and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
