Netanyahu Vows to 'Crush' Hamas, Amid Truce Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday demanded Hamas disarm and its leaders depart Gaza as he promised to step up military operations against the group. His comments come after the Hamas leader in Gaza said it had agreed to a ceasefire proposed by mediators Egypt and Qatar that included the release of five Israeli hostages each week. Those efforts are aimed at renewing a two-month truce that saw the exchange of Israelis kidnapped by Palestinian militants for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention. Israel resumed strikes and ground incursions into Gaza on March 18. The Hamas leader said Israel's demands it lay down its arms was a red line the group would not cross. Netanyahu said he was conducting negotiations and military operations simultaneously. A strategy he said, quote, creates the conditions for the release of our hostages. On Sunday, the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, health authorities in Gaza said at least 24 people, including several children, had been killed in Israeli strikes. They said nine were killed in a single tent in the southern city of Khan Younis. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after a devastating Hamas attack on Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people, according to an Israeli tally, and saw 250 abducted as hostages. The Israeli campaign has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities, and devastated much of the coastal enclave, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in tents or makeshift shelters. Since Israel resumed its attacks in Gaza on March 18, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate areas in northern Gaza where they had returned following the ceasefire agreement in January. Netanyahu also said his government would allow what he called the voluntary immigration of Palestinians who wished to leave Gaza, an idea proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump originally called for relocating the entire population of Gaza, 2.3 million people, to other countries, including Egypt and Jordan, and developing Gaza as a U.S.-owned resort. However, no country has agreed to take in the population, and Israel has since said that any departures by Palestinians would be voluntary.