Israel's Netanyahu says military to increase pressure on Hamas

By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Jaidaa Taha and Alexander Cornwell

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -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.

Israel has pounded Gaza with air strikes since the ceasefire collapsed. Palestinian health authorities said at least 50 Palestinians had been killed in strikes on Saturday.

President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, was a "top priority". His release was at the centre of talks held between Hamas leaders and U.S. negotiator Adam Boehler last month.

Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack.

Fifty-nine hostages are still held in Gaza, fewer than half of them are believed to be still alive.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson had no comment on the status of Alexander, but reiterated that Hamas must immediately release him and all remaining hostages, and that the militant group "bears sole responsibility for the war, and for the resumption of hostilities."

Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.

Since renewing its attacks, Israel has seized swathes of Gaza and ordered hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate in what Palestinians fear is a step towards permanently depopulating swathes of land. The Gaza health ministry says 1,600 people have been killed in the past month.

Palestinian health officials said the military had escalated its strikes across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 92 people in the past 48 hours, at least 50 of them on Saturday.

On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.

US-IRAN TALKS

Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas' Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.

He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing "impossible conditions".

Netanyahu spoke after a second indirect meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials where the sides agreed to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal.

Oman, which is mediating between the countries, stated that discussions aim to reach a binding agreement ensuring Iran is completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, while maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy.

In his televised address, Netanyahu said he was committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.

After the video was released, Bohbot's family said in a statement that they were "deeply shocked and devastated," and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.

"How much longer will he be expected to wait and 'stay strong'?" the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.

The war was triggered by Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel in 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.

(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha, Muhammad Al Gebaly, Nidal al-Mughrabi, Alexander Cornwell, Nuha Sharaf and Michael Martina; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Alison Williams, Peter Graff and Alistair Bell)