Netanyahu says ‘military pressure working’, announces latest terms ‘Hamas leaders in Gaza can leave if…’

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said the Hamas leaders can leave the Gaza Strip only if the group abandons its arms as Israel kept up its bombardment of the Palestinian territory.

He vowed pressure on Hamas in Gaza and said “military pressure is working” on them, while Israel works to put US President Donald Trump's "voluntary emigration" plan in effect.

On Sunday morning, an Israeli air strike that hit a house and a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians killed at least eight people, including five children, the Gaza civil defence agency said.

Israel resumed large-scale bombing in the Palestinian territory on March 18 and then carried out a new ground offensive, ending a nearly two-month ceasefire in the war with Hamas.

Netanyahu rejected claims that Israel was not engaging in negotiations focused on releasing hostages held in Gaza and insisted military pressure on Hamas was proving effective.

Benjamin Netanyahu on Hamas

“We are negotiating under fire... We can see cracks beginning to appear. Hamas must lay down its arms. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. The military pressure is working," Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting, pointing out Israel's strategy was weakening Hamas and increasing pressure for hostage releases.

Hamas expressed a willingness to hand over Gaza's administration, but has warned its weapons are a "red line". Egypt, Qatar and the United States are attempting to again broker a ceasefire and secure the release of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.

A senior Hamas official stated on Saturday that the group had approved a new ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators and urged Israel to support it. Netanyahu's office confirmed receipt of the proposal and stated that Israel had submitted a counterproposal in response. However, the details of the latest mediation efforts remain undisclosed.

Gaza medics and witnesses reported that Israeli air strikes continued in Khan Yunis and some other parts of Gaza throughout the day. An air strike in the southern city of Rafah wounded two children, according to medics. Netanyahu said Israeli forces were working towards a plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to displace all of Gaza's 2.4 million people to other countries.

Trump proposed that Gazans be removed from the territory that would then be owned by the United States and redeveloped, with no right of return for the Palestinians. He later said he was "not forcing" the widely condemned plan but would "sit back and recommend it".

How many people have been killed since the start of Israel-Hamas war?

Hundreds have been killed since the fighting restarted, with the Hamas-run health ministry saying on Saturday that at least 921 people had been killed. Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023 on Israel led war in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign against Hamas has killed at least 50,277 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the territory's health ministry. The resumption of the war in Gaza has also prompted the Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen to resume launching missiles and drones at Israel.

On Sunday morning, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a missile fired from the impoverished country "prior to crossing into Israeli territory". The Huthis say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinian people and have also attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on the same basis.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu's office said he would visit Hungary on April 2 for a multi-day trip in defiance of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Israeli premier for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban publicly extended an invitation to Netanyahu in November following the ICC's warrant.