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| Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu | Photo: Reuters |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in a televised speech on Saturday evening that his country was ready to resume war against Hamas if the second phase of ceasefire talks failed.
Netanyahu said, "The ceasefire is temporary" and "the operation is not over yet." "Israel has the right to attack Gaza again. This will be supported by both outgoing US President Joe Biden and newly elected President Donald Trump. If we start attacking again, it will be even more powerful."
"We have changed the face of the Middle East," the Israeli prime minister said, adding that Hamas is now "completely isolated."
Before his speech last night, Netanyahu said, "Israel will not cease hostilities until we receive a list from Hamas of the hostages being released. Israel will not tolerate any violation of the agreement."
Israeli media outlets have published a list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire, but government officials have yet to confirm the list.
Israeli authorities say they have not yet received the names of the three hostages who will be released on Sunday.
After 15 months of war, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire last Wednesday. The first phase of the ceasefire will last 42 days. The ceasefire will take effect at 8:30 a.m. local time in Gaza.
Israel will release more than 1,890 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of 33 hostages in the first phase of a ceasefire, Egypt, one of the mediators of the ceasefire, announced yesterday.
Talks on a second phase of the ceasefire are scheduled to begin on the 16th day of the first phase of the ceasefire. This phase will "emphasize a permanent ceasefire".
The terms of the second phase of the ceasefire are not yet clear, but it is expected that all other surviving hostages will be released in exchange for Israel releasing more Palestinians from prisons and detention centers.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel took 251 hostages and took them to Gaza. Of these hostages, 94 still remain in war-torn Gaza, of whom the Israeli military believes 34 are dead.
The 15-month war in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children, and displaced nearly 90 percent of the besieged territory's population, or 1.9 million people.