“In exchange for the release of our abductees, Hamas demands the end of the war and the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza,” TASS quotes him as saying.
Netanyahu added that the Palestinian movement demands the release of all those arrested from the Hamas Nukhba special forces and immunity for members of the movement.
“If we agree to this, the death of our military will be in vain.
If we agree to this, we will not be able to guarantee security for our citizens,” the Israeli prime minister said.
Netanyahu stressed that if Hamas's conditions are met, "the next October 7th will only be a matter of time."
“I cannot agree with such a fatal blow to the security of Israel, and therefore we will not agree to it,” he concluded.
Earlier, Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Jonathan Feiner said that Washington would like Israel to concentrate on a targeted fight against the leadership of Hamas, and not on large-scale operations.