Netanyahu rejects calls for temporary ceasefire in Gaza until hostages are released

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza until the hostages Hamas took during its attack on October 7th are released.

Mr Netanyahu was speaking in a televised address shortly after meeting visiting US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who reiterated his call for “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting in Gaza to allow for more aid to reach the coastal enclave. Mr Blinken also said such pauses could create a “better environment in which hostages can be released”.

He said the details of how the pauses would work were being “ironed out”, and that Israel had “legitimate questions” about this.

Israel says there are 241 hostages in captivity in Gaza, including toddlers, young children and the elderly. Most are civilians but soldiers were also seized when Hamas gunman crossed into Israel, killing 1,400 people, according to Israel, in the most deadly attack in the country’s 75-year history. Many of the hostages taken during the attack are foreign nationals or Israelis with dual nationality. The Pentagon said on Friday that American surveillance drones were flying over Gaza to help search for those held.

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The war that followed the Hamas attack enters its fifth week on Saturday and fierce fighting in Gaza City continues. More than 9,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, have been killed in Gaza in the bombardment launched by Israel in the wake of the October 7th attack. An estimated 800,000 Palestinians have fled south from northern Gaza, where the worst of the fighting is taking place.

The Gaza health ministry said a number of people were killed on Friday in a convoy of ambulances outside Sheba hospital in Gaza City. Israel said the ambulances were hit after intelligence was received that Hamas fighters based in the hospital were trying to escape in them.

The head of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was “utterly shocked” by reports of the bombing. “We reiterate: patients, health workers, facilities, and ambulances must be protected at all times. Always. Ceasefire NOW,” he said on the social media platform X.

Israel said its infantry units continued to advance, supported by engineering corps bulldozers and tanks and with close-range air support or naval and artillery fire. The army claims to have uncovered and destroyed hundreds of entrances to the vast Hamas tunnel system, dubbed the Hamas metro, and sections of the tunnels have already been destroyed without Israeli troops going below ground.

Cross-border exchanges of fire also continued on the Israel-Lebanon border. In his first public speech since the onset of the war, Hizbullah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah on Friday indicated that the powerful Iranian–backed militia was not intending to open a second front on Israel’s northern border despite some bellicose rhetoric.

He described the Gaza war as a “100 per cent Palestinian affair”, but said regional actors must support the Palestinians.

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“What is happening on the Lebanese border may seem modest, but it is very important,” he said, claiming that such exchanges of fire had not been seen since 1948, the year of Israel’s independence. He noted that Hizbullah’s operations had escalated day by day, forcing Israel to keep its forces near the border instead of in Gaza. “If Israel launches a pre-emptive strike in Lebanon, it will be making the greatest mistake in its history,” he said.

Speaking at exactly the same time, Mr Netanyahu issued a counter-threat, warning Mr Nasrallah against joining the conflict. “I say again to our enemies, do not miscalculate – any mistake will cost you dearly, a price beyond your belief.”

The Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt was opened for limited evacuations for a third day on Friday under a Qatari-brokered deal aimed at letting some foreign passport holders, their dependants and some wounded Gazans out of the enclave.

Among those to leave on Friday were the parents-in-law of Scotland’s first minister Hamza Yousef who have been trapped in the besieged Palestinian territory since the Hamas attack on Israel last month. A list of approved evacuees posted online by the Rafah border crossings authority had included Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, the parents of Mr Yousaf’s wife, Nadia El-Nakla.

“We are very pleased to confirm that Nadia’s parents were able to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing this morning,” a statement from the couple said. “These last four weeks have been a living nightmare for our family...Although we feel a sense of deep personal relief, we are heartbroken at the continued suffering of the people of Gaza.”

Meanwhile, Israel has warned citizens to reconsider travelling to any destination in the world at this time due to the increase in anti-Semitism and violence against Israelis and Jews worldwide.

According to the unprecedented announcement, anti-Semitism and incitement “occur in many countries in the world, including countries for which there is no travel warning in terrorist contexts”. The message also urged Israelis travelling abroad to avoid wearing Israeli and Jewish symbols, stay away from demonstrations and avoid conversations about serving in the Israeli army.