Netanyahu says Israel will not proceed with Gaza ceasefire until it gets hostage list

Netanyahu says Israel will not proceed with Gaza ceasefire until it gets hostage list
This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 19 January 2025

Netanyahu says Israel will not proceed with Gaza ceasefire until it gets hostage list

Netanyahu says Israel will not proceed with Gaza ceasefire until it gets hostage list
  • Israel reserves right to resume war with American support, warns Netanyahu 
  • Statement comes days after US, other states broker hostage and ceasefire deal 

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel reserves the right to resume fighting in Gaza with US support, as he pledged to bring home all hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
“We reserve the right to resume the war if necessary, with American support,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement, a day before a ceasefire is set to take effect.
“We are thinking of all our hostages ... I promise you that we will achieve all our objectives and bring back all the hostages.
“With this agreement, we will bring back 33 of our brothers and sisters, the majority (of them) alive,” he said.
He said the 42-day first phase, which starts on Sunday, was a “temporary ceasefire.”
“If we are forced to resume the war, we will do so with force,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel had “changed the face of the Middle East” since the war began.


Rubio expresses concern West Bank violence could hurt Gaza peace efforts

Rubio expresses concern West Bank violence could hurt Gaza peace efforts
Updated 13 November 2025

Rubio expresses concern West Bank violence could hurt Gaza peace efforts

Rubio expresses concern West Bank violence could hurt Gaza peace efforts
  • The latest spate of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank could undermine US-backed peace efforts in Gaza, Rubio concerns

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed concern on Wednesday that the latest spate of violence by Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank could spill over and undermine US-backed peace efforts in Gaza.
“I hope not,” Rubio told reporters after a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in Canada, when asked whether the West Bank events could endanger the Gaza ceasefire. “We don’t expect it to. We’ll do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen.”