Israeli strikes on Gaza are ‘only the beginning’, Netanyahu warns Hamas

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said that a wave of deadly overnight strikes on Gaza was “only the beginning” of renewed Israeli action in the Palestinian territory.

“Hamas has already felt the strength of our arm in the past 24 hours. And I want to promise you – and them – this is only the beginning,” Netanyahu said in a televised address.

“From now on, negotiations will take place only under fire,” he said, adding: “Military pressure is essential for the release of additional hostages”.

Israel vowed to keep fighting until the return of all the hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack that sparked the war.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s attack, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.