Netanyahu calls Hamas terrorists ‘dead men walking’ as 30,000 people march on

On Nov 19, 2023

Israel war 2023

Published
Nov. 18, 2023

Updated
Nov. 18, 2023, 6:27 p.m. ET

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared all members of Hamas “dead men walking,” as an estimated 30,000 people marched on Jerusalem to demand the government bring home the hostages taken by the terror group.

Netanyahu spoke at a news conference Saturday night in Tel Aviv, after the demonstrators came to a defiant halt outside his office an hour away in the holy, ancient city.

The prime minister insisted “there has not been a hostage release deal,” as he appeared to shame those calling for new elections, claiming he was “stunned” by the political talk “when our soldiers are fighting in Gaza, falling in battle; the families of the hostages are in a giant nightmare.

“There’ll be time for politics,” he said, according to the Times of Israel.

In other developments in Israel Saturday:

President Biden’s main advisor on the Middle East, Brett McGurk, said Saturday at a security conference in Bahrain that only the release of the estimated 240 hostages would bring “a significant pause” in the war and a “massive surge of humanitarian relief.”

A Hamas spokesman claimed the terror group no longer knows the current status of all the Israeli hostages because it lost contact with those holding them captive.

Lookouts posted along the Gaza border before the Oct. 7 massacre saw unusual activity weeks ahead of the attack but were allegedly threatened by their commanders and told to keep quiet, according to Israeli outlet N12. One senior commander allegedly told them, “If you all bother us again with these things, you’ll be court-martialed.”

The IDF said it is investigating reports of 50 deaths at the UN-run Al-Fakhoura school in the Jabalia refugee camp on Saturday, the BBC reported. “I can’t confirm this incident is IDF, but we are seeing the images like you on social media. We are looking into it,” IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told the outlet. Hamas claimed Israeli forces fired on the facility housing displaced families.

Israel’s ground invasion is in a “second stage” and would soon move to southern Gaza, Gallant said, adding, “Hamas has been hit hard, it’s losing tunnels, bunkers, posts.”

Biden, writing in a Washington Post op-ed called for the world to oversee security in Gaza after the war. “The international community must commit resources to support the people of Gaza in the immediate aftermath of this crisis, including interim security measures,” he wrote.

A poll released by Israel’s N12 showed an uptick in national support for Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip after the conflict’s resolution. In 2005, about 8,000 Jews left their homes in 21 settlements in the Strip. Now, 32 percent of those surveyed said “Israel should remain permanently and renew Jewish settlement.” Another 30 percent said the area should be governed by an “international trusteeship,” while 14 percent…