Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday that there would be no military withdrawal from Gaza or the release of thousands of jailed militants, both of which are crucial demands put forth by Hamas in the ongoing indirect ceasefire talks.
During an event held in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu reaffirmed his commitment to securing “absolute victory” over Hamas, emphasizing, “We will not end this war without achieving all of our goals. We will not pull out the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip, and we will not release thousands of terrorists.”
In a separate development, dozens of unidentified Palestinians were laid to rest in a mass burial in Gaza on the same day, following the handover of bodies by Israeli authorities. The bodies, which had been held in Israel, were buried in the southern city of Rafah, with approximately 100 bodies placed in graves and covered with sand using bulldozers.
Palestinian officials indicated that the bodies included victims of the Israel-Hamas war and some corpses that had been unearthed as Israeli forces advanced through Gaza. Israel has not provided any comments on the handover or addressed the claim that certain corpses had been exhumed.