Hamas will only free the more than 100 remaining hostages from Gaza under a permanent cease-fire, a spokesperson for the terrorist group said Thursday as Israel expands its offensive.
A “partial or temporary cessation of aggression” would not allow for the release of the roughly 115 hostages still in the Palestinian territory, the Hamas spokesperson said.
The warning from Hamas comes as Israel has escalated its ground war in Gaza over the past week, forcing tens of thousands of already displaced Palestinians to again flee for safety.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Thursday and stressed “the importance of protecting Gaza’s civilians and accelerating humanitarian assistance.”
The same day, Israeli forces targeted Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip’s main southern city that is packed with families left homeless from the conflict.
The Israeli Defense Forces said it is working to destroy “buildings rigged with explosives” and eliminate Hamas cells in Khan Younis.
Over a 24-hour period from Thursday into Friday, 210 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to Palestinian health authorities.
More than 20,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Israel’s war cabinet was supposed to meet Thursday to discuss plans for Gaza post-war, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled the meeting, according to the Times of Israel.
In addition, Israeli forces on Thursday allegedly fired at an aid convoy that had “returned from Northern Gaza along a route designated by the Israeli Army,” according to Thomas White, the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
“Our international convoy leader and his team were not injured but one vehicle sustained damage,” he revealed on X. “Aid workers should never be a target.”
The aid convoy is marked with the UN’s insignia and had delivered relief aid, including flour, to Northern Palestinians. Prior to the venture, the UN said it had coordinated with the Israeli military about the route it would take, according to Juliette Touma, a UN UNRWA spokesperson said, according to The New York Times.
IDF has previous claimed that UNRWA is controlled by Hamas, but the organization has since hit back at the claims.
Phillipe Lazzarini, head of the UNRWA, said Friday: “Over the past days, several statements from Israeli officials have insinuated or directly held UNRWA responsible for gaps in aid deliveries in the Gaza Strip. These statements were amplified by Israeli and other mainstream and social media, creating a stream of baseless misinformation.”
Lazzarini said the delays in aid were due to constant airstrikes and restricted access to Gaza, among other things.
With Post wires