From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 21, 2024
In Passover message, Netanyahu vows imminent ‘painful blows’ on Hamas to increase pressure to free hostages
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises to “land additional and painful blows” on Hamas over Passover in order to increase pressure on the terror group to free the hostages.
In a pre-passover video message shared online, Netanyahu frames the current conflict in Biblical terms, citing the rabbinic dictum that “in every generation, they rise to destroy us” and stating that the absence of the hostages over the upcoming holiday “only strengthens our determination to bring them back.”
“Unfortunately, until now, all proposals for the release of our hostages have been outright rejected by Hamas,” he says, pushing back against growing domestic criticism that he has not done enough to secure their freedom.
“Instead of retreating from its extreme positions, Hamas builds on division within us, it draws encouragement from the pressures directed at the Israeli government. As a result, it only tightens its conditions for the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu asserts. “Therefore, we will land additional and painful blows on it – and it will happen soon.”
“In the coming days we will increase the military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages and achieve our victory,” he says.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu stated that “there is a date” for the IDF’s long-delayed ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah but, according to CNN, he reportedly decided to delay the much-anticipated offensive after Iran’s recent missile and drone strike against the Jewish state.
