Prime Minister Netanyahu said the Israeli army was tightening the noose around Hamas in Gaza City and ruled out a ceasefire before the hostages were released. Israel is also preparing for trials of Hamas terrorists captured in Israel after October 7. US President Joe Biden confirmed that during a phone call on Monday, he asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the fighting in Gaza. Saudi Arabia will host summits of Arab and Islamic countries in the coming days to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Speaking from the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had penetrated deeper into Gaza than Hamas had ever imagined and warned the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah of the “biggest mistake of its life” if decides to open a new full-fledged war front.
“The war is progressing in the south with a force that Hamas has never seen,” Netanyahu said. “Gaza city is under siege. We are operating inside it, every hour, every day increasing the pressure on Hamas.” According to The Times of Israel, he said that thousands of terrorists who operated both on the surface and in the vast network of tunnels under Gaza had been eliminated. Its Defense Minister Yoav Gallant added that the IDF was now operating “in the heart” of Gaza City and “tightening the noose” around Hamas there. Both Netanyahu and Gallant have ruled out a ceasefire until the hostages are released.
Netanyahu also said the ground operation destroyed “countless” Hamas command centers, positions and tunnels believed to stretch hundreds of kilometers beneath Gaza, which Hamas uses to move forces, store weapons and attack Israeli forces. “Hamas is finding that we are getting to places it thought we would never get to,” the Israeli prime minister said.
Government Legal Adviser Gali Baharav Miara and State Attorney Amit Isman released an announcement last night on preparations for the trials of Hamas terrorists captured in Israel after October 7. “The State of Israel will not accept the murders, kidnappings and injuries of civilians and members of the security forces, and the destruction of communities,” the statement said. “In addition to activities at the operational and political level, including for the return of abductees, intensive activity in the legal field has been ongoing since October 7.”
According to their statement, the State of Israel will seek the prosecution of terrorists who have been or will be caught and will demand punishments commensurate with the gravity of the atrocities committed. “This is an unusual and unprecedented event in its scale, and the law enforcement system must deal with the challenges of complex investigations into terrorist crimes, as well as the complex legal issues that arise from these acts,” The Jerusalem Post quoted the statement as saying.
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that during a phone call on Monday, he asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the fighting in Gaza. A White House spokesman previously said the two leaders discussed the possibility of a “tactical pause” in the fighting in Gaza for humanitarian reasons and the possible release of hostages during their conversation on Monday.
Saudi Arabia will host summits of Arab and Islamic countries in the coming days to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Reuters reported, citing a statement by Saudi Arabia’s investment minister on Tuesday. “This week, in the coming days, we will see Saudi Arabia convene an extraordinary Arab summit in Riyadh,” Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore. “You will see Saudi Arabia convene an African-Saudi summit in Riyadh, and in a few days you will see Saudi Arabia convene an Islamic summit,” the minister said.
