Israel has no plans to stop its war with Hamas despite ongoing hostage release talks, according to the prime minister

The Israeli military will finish off Hamas in Gaza in the near future, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed. Meanwhile, his government intends to continue negotiations for the release of the remaining hostages held by the militant group.

Speaking to wounded Israeli reservists on Tuesday, Netanyahu insisted that “in the coming days, we will go in [to Gaza] with full force to complete the operation.” This means “destroying Hamas” as well as “freeing all our hostages,” according to the prime minister.

He did not rule out a “temporary ceasefire” in exchange for the release of captives taken by the Islamist group during its attack on Israel in 2023. However, Netanyahu made it clear that “there will be no situation where we stop the war.”

The prime minister said that Israel had already “set up a governing body that will allow [civilians] to exit” Gaza, though no country has apparently expressed a willingness to take them in. Given the opportunity, more than half of its residents would leave, according to him.

Netanyahu’s comments follow Tuesday’s airstrike by Israel Defense Forces on the European hospital in Khan Yunis in the south of the Palestinian enclave. According to the IDF, Hamas militants had set up an underground “command and control center” beneath the building. Local media reported that the attack targeted a Hamas leader, Muhammad Sinwar, whose fate remains unknown.

On Wednesday, several media outlets claimed that Israeli warplanes had struck the site again, in an apparent attempt to prevent rescue workers from approaching the hospital.

Gaza’s civil defense agency later confirmed that IDF warplanes “deliberately targeted anyone who tried to reach” the wounded. According to Palestinian officials, the airstrikes claimed the lives of at least 28 people.

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following a deadly Hamas incursion on October 7, 2023, which left more than 1,100 people dead, with more than 200 taken hostage. The heavy aerial and artillery pounding of the densely populated Palestinian enclave, coupled with an Israeli ground operation, have claimed the lives of over 60,000 people, with many more injured or missing, Palestinian authorities have estimated.

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