The Israeli leader’s comments come after Qatar confirmed negotiations were underway for a possible new truce.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the comments, suggesting that new negotiations were underway to recover the hostages held by Hamas.
In a televised news conference Saturday, Netanyahu called the conflict an “existential war” that must be fought to victory, despite pressures and costs, and said Gaza would be demilitarized and under security control. Israeli.
His statements came a day after Israeli forces mistakenly killed three of the more than 100 captives.
Netanyahu said the Israeli offensive in Gaza helped secure a deal to partially release the hostages in November and vowed to maintain intense military pressure on Hamas.
“The instructions I give to the negotiating team are based on this pressure, without which we have nothing,” he said.
Netanyahu’s comments come after the head of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, met with the prime minister of Qatar, a mediating country between Israel and Hamas, whose efforts resulted in a seven-day truce and a hostage exchange last month.
Earlier on Saturday, Qatar confirmed that talks were underway for a possible new truce.
Netanyahu evaded a question about the meeting reportedly taking place in Europe, but confirmed he had given instructions to the negotiating team.
“We have serious criticism of Qatar… but for now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages,” he said.
A Hamas statement later said the group “affirms its position of not opening negotiations to exchange prisoners unless the aggression against our people ceases once and for all.”
“The movement communicated this position to all the mediators,” he adds.
Israeli forces on Friday admitted to mistakenly killing three Hamas hostages, all aged in their 20s, in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, where troops are engaged in heavy fighting with Hamas .
Israel continues to bomb Gaza, killing nearly 19,000 Palestinians since October 7. Thousands more are feared buried under the rubble.
Israel says at least 1,147 people were killed in Hamas’ attack on its territory two months ago.
The 10-week war has razed much of northern Gaza and displaced 85 percent of the territory’s 2.3 million people from their homes.
