Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that Israel's goal was not to occupy Gaza, but to "free Gaza."

Thousands took to the streets across Israel on Sunday to start a nationwide general strike, backed by the families of the hostages, demanding a cease-fire deal to free the captives and end the war

Hamas has long called for a comprehensive deal but says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The group has refused to lay down its arms, as Israel has demanded.

For Netanyahu, the calculation is now straightforward: win the war quickly, and the rest will sort itself out. In March 2024, with the US presidential race heating up and just five months after the October 7 massacre,

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich dismissed nationwide protests as a failure, urging Prime Minister Netanyahu to ignore pressure and order the IDF to fully defeat Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended a new military offensive in Gaza that's more sweeping than previously announced, declaring in the face of growing condemnation at home and abroad that Israel “has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas.

A UCLA professor of Israeli studies says Netanyahu does not have an exit plan if IDF troops occupy Gaza’s largest city.

The Israeli prime minister has served longer and feuded more bitterly with his generals than any prime minister in Israeli history.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli gunfire killed at least 25 people seeking aid in Gaza on Wednesday, health officials and witnesses said, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will “allow” Palestinians to leave during an upcoming military offensive in some of the territory’s most populated areas.