Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF to intensify its operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as renewed military pressure has begun to reveal real cracks in the terrorist organization’s rule and resolve.

Israel renewed military operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire after Hamas rejected US and Israeli proposals to extend the truce in return for the release of additional hostages.

The renewal of airstrikes and targeted ground operations reportedly has Hamas scrambling, and the withholding of humanitarian aid to Gaza has resulted in the first real demonstrations against Hamas rule there.

At a security consultation on Saturday night, it was decided to increase the pressure.

“The Security Cabinet decided to increase the pressure, which was already increased, to further pound Hamas and create the optimal conditions for freeing our hostages,” announced Netanyahu on Sunday. “The military pressure is working. It’s working because it is simultaneous: On the one hand, it is pounding Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and on the other, [it is] creating the conditions for releasing our hostages.”

The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office sought to dispel three falsehoods related to the situation in Gaza.

#1 – Israel is negotiating with Hamas

Netanyahu stressed that there are no “negotiations” in the sense people are talking about. “We are holding talks under fire, and that is what makes them effective.”

#2 – Israel was unwilling to move the ceasefire deal forward and discuss a final phase

As the Trump administration has emphasized repeatedly, Hamas alone bears the blame for the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire. Netanyahu noted that his government remains willing to discuss an end to the war, but on Israel’s terms, which means all the hostages are freed, Hamas disarms, its leader leave Gaza, and the coastal enclave is rebuilt according to President Donald Trump’s stated vision.

#3 – Israel’s government doesn’t care about the hostages

Rallies in several parts of the country accuse Netanyahu and his cabinet of caring more about destroying Hamas and declaring “victory” than about freeing the hostages, at any cost. They also claim Netanyahu is more concerned for his own political survival. Not so, insisted the Israeli leader: “We speak in depth and feel their pain, which is immense. This claim—that we do not care—echoes Hamas propaganda. This is what Hamas puts in its videos with the goal of creating internal discord.”

He added that “the combination of military and diplomatic pressure is the only thing that has returned the hostages.”

Hamas won’t lay down its arm

While everyone wants the hostages back, there is an underlying realization that their release alone isn’t the victory that Israel seeks or needs in this war.

This war cannot end like the Gaza’s wars before it, which Hamas still in charge, armed and able to fight again another day.

October 7 shattered all the illusions. Israel’s defenses are not as impenetrable as once believed, and Israel’s foes are far more audacious than even the most senior of Israeli “experts” gave them credit for.

Leaving Hamas in charge and armed makes the next Oct. 7 all but inevitable.

Hamas officials this week stated in several media interviews that they will not voluntarily disarm, making this a red line for any Gaza armistice deal.

Under the present circumstances, the only way this war ends with Israel meeting the critical goal of disarming Hamas is by force.

Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates