Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to open the “gates of hell” if Hamas doesn’t release all of its hostages.
"We can't always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released until the last one," Netanyahu said in a statement. "We will eliminate Hamas's military capability and its political rule in Gaza. We will bring all our hostages home, and we will ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel."
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The statement comes with two weeks left in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The second phase of the ceasefire agreement, in which dozens of hostages are expected to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, has yet to be negotiated.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in Jerusalem on Sunday, has said that Hamas can’t continue as “a military or government force.”
"As long as it stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible," Rubio said on Sunday. "It must be eradicated."
Rubio’s statement comes as President Donald Trump has vowed for the United States to take ownership of the Gaza Strip in an effort to rebuild the region.
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Rubio is not scheduled to meet with any Palestinians on his trip to Israel, nor is he expected to visit Jordan or Egypt, two U.S. allies that Trump has asked to take in Palestinians in the event the U.S. rebuilds Gaza.
Israeli forces launched an airstrike on Hamas on Sunday, killing three Hamas-run Interior Ministry policemen. They called the attack a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and also accused Israel of seeking to sabotage the peace deal.