Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to intensify its operations against Hamas after the group rejected Israel’s latest proposal for a temporary truce, demanding instead a complete end to the war in exchange for the release of hostages.
In a late-night televised address on Saturday, Netanyahu said, “While war comes with a heavy price, we have no choice but to continue fighting for our very existence, until victory.”
Egyptian mediators are working to revive a ceasefire, which collapsed last month after a temporary truce led to the release of 38 hostages.
Hamas, which launched the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war, maintains it will only release the remaining hostages if a deal to end the war is reached.
Earlier Saturday, Hamas claimed to have recovered the body of a guard killed in an Israeli airstrike who was holding Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American soldier believed to be the last living American hostage in Gaza.