Hamas to Learn the ‘Hard Way’ It Can’t ‘Bring Israel to Its Knees,’ FM Sa’ar Says Amid Renewed Gaza Fighting
Ailin Vilches Arguello
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a joint press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (not pictured), in Rome, Italy, Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned on Tuesday that Hamas will learn “the hard way” that it will not be able to “bring the State of Israel to its knees,” saying his country had no option but to resume military operations against the Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza after negotiations to extend a ceasefire had failed.
“In the last two and a half weeks, we have reached a deadlock where there is no ceasefire and also no return of the hostages, and Israel cannot accept this,” Sa’ar said during an appearance at the Nevatim Conference for the Development of the Negev.
“Sincere efforts were made to advance toward a framework,” he continued, noting that US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, “proposed two different offers, and Hamas rejected both of them.”
On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced they conducted “extensive” strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Monday.
“This follows Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
Israel recently imposed a total blockade on Gaza after the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas expired without an agreement to extend the truce.
During the first phase, which went into effect on Jan. 19, fighting stopped for six weeks while Hamas released 33 Israeli hostages (25 living and eight dead bodies) in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom were serving lengthy sentences in Israeli jails for terrorist activity.
A second phase was supposed to involve a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages kidnapped by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists from Israel. However, negotiations subsequently stalled, with Hamas rejecting a US proposal supported by Israel to release more hostages and extend the ceasefire while continuing to negotiate a permanent resolution.
The US, Qatar, and Egypt have been trying to bridge the differences between the Islamic terrorist group and Israel to restart negotiations in order to release remaining hostages held in Gaza and lift the blockade.
“If we had continued waiting, the situation would have remained stagnant,” Sa’ar said on Tuesday. “This strongly reminded me of the first 20 days after Oct. 7, until the ground entry into the Gaza Strip, when there was hope that perhaps Hamas would come to a deal. As long as we didn’t apply force, nothing happened.”
“Hamas will have to understand the hard way that it will not be able to bring the State of Israel to its knees,” he continued.
Israel appears to have support from Washington to renew its military operations in Gaza, the coastal enclave that borders the Jewish state to the south.
On Monday, the White House confirmed that Israel consulted the US before resuming military action against the Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza.
“The Trump administration and the White House were consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza tonight,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News. “As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran – all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel but also the United States of America – will see a price to pay: all hell will break loose.”
In a post on X, Sa’ar announced he had a conversation with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, regarding Israel’s decision to resume military operations.
During his speech, Sa’ar also said that Hamas sought to divide Israeli society and dictate the terms of the ceasefire standoff. He dismissed claims by critics that a return to combat would harm the hostages’ chances of returning as “untrue and unfounded.”
“Returning to fighting is a continuation of our commitment to achieving the war’s objectives,” he said, reiterating that the goals remain the same: the return of all hostages, the destruction of Hamas’s power in Gaza, and preventing any future threats from the enclave.
On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Jerusalem will not cease military operations against Hamas until all the hostages are returned.
“Hamas must realize that the rules of the game have changed, and if it does not immediately release all the hostages, the gates of hell will open, and it will find itself facing the full intensity of the IDF in the air, sea, and land, until its complete elimination,” Katz said during a visit to the Tel Nof Airbase.
“We will not stop fighting until all the hostages are returned home and all threats to the southern residents are removed,” he added.
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