Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said on Tuesday that if Hamas fails to release all 73 hostages still in Gaza by noon on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) resumes attacks “until Hamas' final defeat.” He said he would.
Netanyahu issued his ultimatum the day after President Donald Trump said he had held all of the hostages until noon on Saturday to release them, or that he would otherwise allow Israel to do whatever he wanted.
Trump was responding to Hamas' announcement that it had suspended Hamas hostage release.
Netanyahu, just returning from a weekly visit to the US, issued a statement (translated from Hebrew by government news outlets):
We have just finished our detailed 4-hour security cabinet meeting. We all expressed our anger over the shocking state of the three hostages who were released last Saturday.
We all welcomed President Trump's request to release hostages by noon on Saturday, and welcomed the president's revolutionary vision for the future of Gaza.
Last night, in light of Hamas' announcement of its decision not to breach the contract and release hostages, the IDF instructed them to gather the strengths inside and around the Gaza Strip. This action runs at this time and completes immediately.
Here is the unanimous decision that I passed through the cabinet:
If Hamas does not return hostages by noon on Saturday, the ceasefire will end and the IDF will resume the fierce battle until Hamas' final defeat.
Netanyahu had not planned how to protect hostages in the event of a new war.
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News; Breitbart News Sunday Sirius XM Patriot will be available Sundays from 7pm to 10pm (4pm to 7pm). He is the author of Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Daysyou can pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author Trump's Virtue: Lessons and Legacy of President Donald TrumpIt is now available on Audible. He is the winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpollak.
