 "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference in Jerusalem on May 21, 2025. Image- AFP")
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to bring back all hostages held in Gaza “living and dead,” amid increasing pressure from families and international allies to secure the release of captives still in Hamas custody since the October 7 attacks.
His pledge comes as negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal remain stalled, exacerbating the crisis at home and abroad.
“If we don’t achieve it today, we will achieve it tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. We are not giving up,” he said of the duty to free the captives in a speech to close out Jerusalem Day. “We intend to bring them all back, the living and the dead.”
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, including 36 in a school-turned-shelter that was struck as people slept, setting their belongings ablaze, according to local health officials. The military said it targeted militants operating from the school.
Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. It has vowed to seize full control of Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and until the militant group returns the remaining 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.