Israel has passed on a ‘final’ and ultimate warning to Hamas and has exclaimed that if Hamas does not release all the hostages, doesn’t lay down its weapons and surrender, then Israel will retaliate with a massive strike, that would literally ‘destroy’ and completely ‘annihilate’ the Gaza strip.
“This is the final warning to the murderers and rapists of Hamas in Gaza and in luxury hotels abroad: Release the hostages and lay down your weapons-or Gaza will be destroyed and you will be annihilated”, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on his X platform. He also reiterated that Israeli Defence Forces(IDF) would continue as planned and is preparing to expand the maneuver to decisively defeat Gaza. In the previous month as well, Israeli Defence Minister had warned Hamas and had asserted that “all gates of hell will open on the heads of Hamas, until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war”.
The Israel-Hamas conflict that broke out on October 7, 2023, continues to escalate despite a brief phase of ceasefire accompanied with exchange of hostages and prisoners in the month of March. Israel had claimed that the ceasefire agreement collapsed and it decided to resume fighting as Hamas didn’t completely disclosed the identity and information about the hostages. The delay in release of hostages led to the resumption of fighting.
Trump sends ‘last’ warning, proposes ceasefire terms
US President Donald Trump, who has promised to end the Israel-Hamas conflict, since the days of his Presidential election campaign. Lately, he has sent a ‘last warning’ to Hamas and has demanded to accept his ceasefire terms. On his Truth Social post, Trump also said that he has warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting the ceasefire proposal unleashed by him. He also affirmed that there will not be one more warning, but only a serious retaliation.
As per the reports, Steve Witkoff, United States Special Envoy to Middle East, has submitted the ceasefire proposal to Hamas and has demanded for the release of all the hostages. Meanwhile, Trump said that Israel has accepted his proposal and even Hamas should acknowledge his ceasefire idea.
An Israeli official said that it was “seriously considering” Trump’s proposal. Hamas also said that it is discussing with mediators on the ways to proceed with the ceasefire proposal. As per the ceasefire deal, Hamas should release all the hostages on the first day of the truce in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and commence negotiations for the comprehensive end of the war.
This is not the maiden time a ceasefire proposal has been put out. Predominantly under the mediation of US, Qatar and Egypt several rounds of negotiations and multiple peace deals have been channelized. Yet, the Israel-Hamas war is in the verge of completing two years with mounting death toll and catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Apparently, will the ‘last and final’ warning yield some results or will it lead to further escalation of conflict similar to the previous time, when war was resumed due to mutual distrust and suspicion after a phase of hostage release. How the latest warnings and efforts to end the war, further shape the geopolitical latitude and power dynamics of West Asia, has to be awaited.
