As an Israel-Hamas truce entered into force on Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen warned that the Israeli side will restart military operations in the Gaza Strip as soon as captives were released.
“Israel will continue its war on Hamas, and we will not stop until we achieve our two main goals, overthrowing the rule of Hamas and returning all the abductees back to us, safe and sound,” Mr. Cohen said as he toured Israel’s borders with his counterparts from Portugal and Slovenia on Friday.
Mr. Cohen's words on Friday echoed those of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant following a deal with Hamas for a temporary respite in combat to allow for the modest prisoner swap.
The cease-fire is expected to last four days, with Israel promising to free 150 Palestinian inmates over four days in exchange for Hamas releasing 50 of the nearly 240 captives it abducted during its Oct. 7 raid on southern Israel. The Israeli side has promised to prolong the truce by one day for every ten more captives freed from Gaza.
Mr. Netanyahu and other members of his government have threatened to fully destroy Hamas after Hamas fighters invaded the Israel-Gaza border and killed over 1,200 Israelis in southern Israel, sparking the present battle.
“Citizens of Israel, I want to be clear—the war is continuing. The war is continuing,” Mr. Netanyahu said upon announcing the prisoner exchange this week. “We will continue until we achieve all of our goals: Return all of the hostages, eliminate Hamas, and ensure that on the day after Hamas, no element that supports terrorism, educates its children for terrorism, and pays terrorists or their families, will control Gaza.”
Mr. Cohen opted to renew his threat to exterminate Hamas on Friday evening, about the time the Israeli and Hamas sides swapped their first set of captives. The Israelis freed 39 captives, including 24 women and 15 adolescent boys who had previously been imprisoned, while Hamas released 13 women and children who had been captured on October 7.
Mr. Cohen's pledge that Israeli troops will continue to hunt for Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip further indicates that the Israeli side will not allow the international community to utilize the temporary ceasefire to press for an end to the conflict.
During a meeting with Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that the Israeli side "has the right to self-defense, but must respect international law and humanitarian law." Mr. Sánchez also called for an international peace conference on the Israel-Hamas conflict, as well as efforts to finalize a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
During the same Thursday meeting, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo expressed concern that thousands of civilians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and that 1.5 million Gazans have been internally displaced within the confined territory, and he called for "political courage" to avoid a protracted conflict with Hamas.
“We hope that in the next days, this humanitarian ceasefire is the first step, and we hope that it is the first step in the future for a negotiated peace,” Mr. De Croo said.
Mr. Cohen stated on Friday that the Israeli side condemns the "false claims" of the Spanish and Belgian Prime Ministers "who give support to terrorism." The Israeli Foreign Minister stated that he summoned the Spanish and Belgian ambassadors in Israel to his office to further condemn their respective governments' comments.
“Israel is acting according to international law and fighting a murderous terrorist organization worse than ISIS that commits war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Mr. Cohen said. “We will resume fighting after the ceasefire until the elimination of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip and the release of all the abductees.”
