Netanyahu threatened to resume fighting in Gaza if the deal with Hamas fails
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip if necessary. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on January 18.
"[The U.S.] fully supported Israel's right to resume hostilities if Israel concludes that negotiations for a second phase will prove fruitless. <...> If it is necessary to return to hostilities, we will do so in new ways and with great power," Al Jazeera reported him as saying.
Netanyahu also pointed out that Israeli forces are "not only not decreasing, but increasing" their presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. He noted that such control is necessary to "prevent smuggling or the transfer of hostages across the border."
In addition, the Israeli prime minister said that the agreement made it possible to return 33 hostages to their homeland, most of whom are alive.
Earlier in the day, The Times of Israel reported on the upcoming January 19 release of three Israeli hostages by Hamas. Their names are expected to be announced today, as the deal calls for names to be provided 24 hours before the release, the publication explained. According to the agreement, the first Israelis to be released should be mostly women, children, the disabled and the elderly.
Theceasefire regime in the Gaza Strip will begin in the morning of January 19, as agreed upon by both sides and mediators. The Israeli government approved the agreement with the Palestinian Hamas movement on January 17 following a six-hour meeting.
The Gaza ceasefire agreement was announced on January 15. The next day, the Ministry of Defense and the IDF began preparations to implement the agreement. In particular, the State Defense Ministry's Directorate of Checkpoints and the Design Department will be involved in the implementation of the deal in order to speed up logistics.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas subjected Israel to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.
