Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pledged to move against Hamas with “full force” in the coming days to “complete” the fight against the Iran-backed terror group.
Netanyahu made the remarks about the war in Gaza while visiting with Israel Defense Forces reservists.
“In the coming days, we are going in with full force to complete the operation,” Netanyahu said. “Completing the operation means defeating Hamas. It means destroying Hamas.”
Netanyahu said that eliminating Hamas and freeing the remaining hostages that the group took during its deadly attack on Oct. 7, 2023, “go hand in hand.”
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“It’s possible that Hamas will say, ‘Time out — we want to release ten more [hostages].’ Fine, bring them. We’ll take them, and then we’ll go in,” the prime minister said. “But there will not be a situation in which we stop the war. There may be a temporary cease-fire, but we’re going all the way.”
With Hamas’ release of Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander on Monday, there are 58 hostages now being held in Gaza. Netanyahu’s remarks came just before Alexander was released.
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U.S. Special Envoy Adam Boehler and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met with the families of hostages for nearly two hours in Tel Aviv on Tuesday before traveling to Doha, Qatar, to join talks on a possible ceasefire in Gaza.
Boehler said that following Alexander’s release, there is a better chance of securing the release of the remaining hostages.
Boehler and Witkoff told families that if they did not believe there was a genuine chance for progress in negotiations, they would not be making the trip to Doha.
As the war in Gaza drags on, President Donald Trump kicked off a four-day Middle East trip on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, where he and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were expected to hold talks on ending the war in Gaza and more.
Fox News’ Yonat Friling and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
