Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened “more painful blows” to Hamas on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.
“In the coming days, we will increase military and political pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free the hostages,” Netanyahu said, without providing any details.
The Israeli army said some of the hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7 were being held in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“The chief of staff has approved the next steps for the war,” military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement late Sunday. He did not provide specific information.
“On Passover, the hostages will be held captive for 200 days… We will fight until you return to us,” he said.
Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to launch a military attack on Rafah, claiming members of the terrorist group Hamas are hiding there. The threats emerged despite calls for restraint from the international community, including Israel’s main ally, the United States.
An Israeli overnight attack on Rafah killed 22 people, including 18 children, officials said on Sunday, as Israel vowed to expand its ground offensive against Hamas militants in the city of 1.4 million, most of them refugees. .
The airstrike killed a man, his pregnant wife and their 3-year-old child, according to a nearby Kuwaiti hospital that received the bodies. The hospital said doctors successfully removed the baby safely from the dead mother’s womb. Another attack killed 17 children and two women of a large family.
When asked about the casualties in Rafah, an Israeli military spokesman said that multiple armed targets in Gaza were attacked, including military camps, launch stations and armed personnel.
“Did you see one person among all the victims?” said Saqr Abdel Aal, a Palestinian man whose family members were among the dead, as he looked at a wrapped body The corpse of a child shrouded in white mourns.
“All were women and children,” he said. “My entire identity has been wiped clean, including my wife, children and everyone,” Reuters reported.
Israel carries out almost daily air strikes on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are taking refuge after fleeing Israeli military attacks on other parts of the enclave.
Israel’s latest attack in Gaza comes as U.S. lawmakers approved $26 billion in new aid despite global criticism over the death toll in Gaza. The aid package includes $9 billion in humanitarian aid for the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Sunday that 48 Palestinians were killed and 79 injured in Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.
Palestinian health authorities say Israeli attacks have killed more than 34,000 people and injured nearly 77,000 since the war in Gaza began last October.
bank of the west
Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians on Sunday in the occupied West Bank, where violence is raging.
The Israeli military said three Palestinians attacked Israeli soldiers in two separate locations. In the first incident, Israeli troops were shot at by a man who tried to stab them before another man tried to stab them at an intersection near the Palestinian city of Hebron.
A Reuters photographer saw a body at the scene of the incident. Palestinian official news agency WAFA quoted local sources as saying that ambulance crews were unable to reach the scene. The two victims, aged 18 and 19, were later confirmed dead.
In a second incident, a woman tried to stab soldiers at a checkpoint further north in the West Bank, who then fired back, the military said. Health authorities later confirmed her death.
Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas, violence in the West Bank has continued to escalate. Israel has frequently sent troops to attack armed groups, Jewish settlers have wreaked havoc in Palestinian villages, and Palestinians have carried out street ambush on Israeli soldiers, causing casualties.
Netanyahu said on Sunday he would oppose sanctions against any Israeli military units over alleged human rights abuses in the West Bank, following media reports that Washington was planning such a measure.
Axios news website reported on Saturday that Washington planned to impose sanctions on the Israeli Netzah Yehuda battalion operating in the occupied West Bank, although the Israeli military said it was not aware of any such measures.
US announces sanctions
The United States on Friday announced a series of sanctions against groups funding extremist Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. It is the latest sign of growing U.S. dissatisfaction with the policies of Netanyahu, whose coalition government relies on settler parties.
Israel launched the offensive in response to Hamas’s terror attacks on Israel in October, which killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli data. The militants also took about 250 people hostage. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and other countries.
In November, more than 100 hostages were released during a four-day pause in fighting. Israel says about 130 hostages remain in custody, but a quarter of them are dead.
Information for this report was obtained in part from The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters.
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