Terrorists from Hamas have threatened to execute captives if Israel does not accept their demands.
This follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s admonition to the terror group to surrender or face certain death.
On Sunday, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida issued a frightening threat to Israel and its “arrogant leadership,” saying that it would not return its hostages alive “without an exchange and negotiation and meeting the demands of the resistance.”
Following the horrible October 7 attack by Hamas and other groups, Israel declared war, killing 1,200 people and dragging roughly 240 back to Gaza as hostages. According to Hamas officials, more over 18,000 people have been killed in Gaza.
During a weeklong ceasefire late last month, almost 100 women and children held by Hamas were released, with three Palestinian detainees released from Israeli jails for every hostage handed back.
On Sunday night, Netanyahu urged Hamas to “surrender now” and warned the terror group that “it is the beginning of the end.”
As Israel’s relentless military offensive in Gaza continues, the IDF has intimated that it is closing in on top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, called “Gaza’s Bin Laden.”
According to reports, Sinwar is hiding in an address in northwest Khan Younis, a southern city surrounded by IDF troops.
In a televised statement this evening, Netanyahu declared: “The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to the Hamas terrorists: It’s over. Don’t die for Sinwar. Surrender now.”
Despite concerns that Hamas was on the verge of collapsing, national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi hinted that the battle could last months, with major backer the US refusing to set a timeframe for Israel to fulfil its objectives.
“The evaluation that this can’t be measured in weeks is correct, and I’m not sure it can be measured in months,” he told Israel’s Channel 12.