Release the hostages or it's war, says senior security source

A senior Israeli security source told Kann News tonight (Saturday) that if Hamas does not agree to continue to release the hostages, war will be renewed in the Gaza Strip - and much more intensively than before.

According to the source, due to the green light from the Trump administration, a renewed war would include actions which the Biden administration aggressively vetoed.

These include the complete cessation of humanitarian aid. The Biden administration heavily pressured Israel to introduce large amounts of aid, even beyond the necessities of the Gazan population and with the knowledge that some of the aid would end up in Hamas hands. The hawkish elements of Netanyahu's government opposed this move, but it was done to keep the Biden administration on board.

The second such step would be the removal of supply of electricity and water to the Gaza Strip. Shortly after October 7, Israel threatened to do precisely this as punishment for the attack. However, heavy international and especially American pressure forced Israel to first supply hospitals and then all of the Gaza Strip.

The Tikvah Forum of Hostages' Families, known for its more hawkish and pro-war stance to return the hostages, released a statement today on the matter:

With the completion of the first phase of the deal, families of hostages from the Hope Forum call on the Prime Minister and the hostage negotiation managers not to compromise on returning hostages in dribs and drabs.

Returning 2-3 hostages each time establishes that we will ultimately abandon hostages in Gaza, with no way to bring them back, and serves as a means for endless extortion of Israel.

The way in which we have returned hostages through cruel selection torments the hostages and torments their families. This approach is unacceptable in the Jewish state.

We demand that you act from a position of strength and require the return of all hostages at once, in one bus.