Use “every option” for hostages
Netanyahu announces second phase of war
October 28, 2023, 9:05 p.m
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Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vows the country will fight for a long war. Afterwards he will also have to give “answers to difficult questions”. His government is putting pressure on the freeing of the hostages kidnapped to Gaza.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the second phase of the war against Hamas has begun with the expansion of the Israeli military’s ground operations in the Gaza Strip. The aim is to destroy the military capabilities and the rule of the Islamist organization and to bring the hostages home, he told journalists in Tel Aviv.
The massive air strikes of the past few weeks have dealt Hamas a “severe blow.” “However, we are only at the beginning,” emphasized Netanyahu. The war would be “difficult and protracted.” He could not say whether Iran was involved in planning the attack by the radical Islamic group Hamas on October 7th. But the Islamic Republic is one of the group’s financiers. Netanyahu also said: “After the war, we will all have to give answers to difficult questions, that includes me.”
The emergency government made the decision to expand ground operations unanimously. According to army reports, Israeli troops advanced into the north of the Gaza Strip during the night. The ground troops are still on site. Infantry, armored troops, engineering corps and artillery were involved, it said. According to the military, underground targets and terrorist infrastructure will increasingly be attacked. The Israeli military had previously made isolated, time-limited advances on the ground.
Netanyahu wants to “pursue every option”
Netanyahu had previously spoken to relatives of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas. Without commenting on possible exchange arrangements, Netanyahu said at the meeting that his government “will pursue every option to bring her home.” In a video released by his office, he also stated that freeing the hostages was an “integral” part of the military objectives. “Pressure is the key. The greater the pressure, the greater the opportunities,” said the head of government.
Hamas had called for the release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israel. “The price that must be paid for the large number of enemy hostages in our hands is to empty the (Israeli) prisons of all Palestinian prisoners,” said a video message from the spokesman for the armed wing of Israel, broadcast by Hamas television radical organization, Abu Obeida.
“If the enemy wants to solve the problem in one fell swoop, we are ready for that. If he wants a process in stages, then we are ready for that too,” he added. Hamas launched an unprecedented major attack on Israel on October 7th. According to Israeli information, around 1,400 people were killed. She also kidnapped 229 people to the Gaza Strip and has since released four of the hostages. In response, Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip and launched massive airstrikes.