Jerusalem:
Families of hostages taken by Gaza police booed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he addressed parliament on Monday. He promised to bring the prisoners home, but said “more time” was needed.
“Well well!” the families sang from the gallery as Netanyahu said Israeli forces must first increase military pressure on Gaza's Hamas rulers.
“Without military pressure, we would not be able to achieve the release of hostages,” he said.
Netanyahu said he had spoken to Israeli field commanders who said they needed “more time” to complete the mission.
“We will not stop until victory,” Netanyahu said over the cries of protesters.
Israel says 129 hostages kidnapped on October 7 when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel are still being held in Palestinian territory.
“We, my colleagues and I, are sparing no effort,” Netanyahu added, to “bring all our hostages home.”
Netanyahu's speech came after his Likud party said he had visited the Gaza Strip on Monday and vowed to step up the army's assault on the Palestinian territory.
“I just got back from Gaza,” he said, according to a statement from the Likud party.
“We will not stop, we will continue to fight and we will intensify the fighting in the coming days. It will be a long war that is not close to ending.”
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