Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday he had instructed the military to intensify pressure on Hamas after the Palestinian militant group this week rejected an Israeli proposal for another temporary truce, instead demanding a deal to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages.
In a late-night televised address, Netanyahu said that while war came with a heavy price, Israel had “no choice but to continue fighting for our very existence, until victory”.
Egyptian mediators have been working to restore the ceasefire, which Israel abandoned last month after seeking to extend a temporary truce that had seen 38 hostages released.
Hamas, whose militants carried out the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, has said it would only free the remaining hostages under a deal that ends the war.
Earlier on Saturday, Hamas said that it had recovered the body of a guard killed in an Israeli air strike this week and who was holding Edan Alexander, an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last American citizen held alive in Gaza.
The fate of Alexander was unknown, Hamas said. Netanyahu did not mention Alexander in his remarks.
