Enough hostages alive to warrant war: Netanyahu

Jerusalem, Doha, Cairo, Feb. 11: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview aired on Sunday that “enough” of the 132 remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza are alive to justify Israel’s ongoing war in the region.

Asked how many of the hostages are still alive, Netanyahu said “enough to warrant the kind of efforts that we’re doing.”

“We’re going to try to do our best to get all those who are alive back and, frankly, also the bodies of the dead,” he said in the interview with ABC’s “This Week” programme.

During a week-long truce in late November, Hamas freed more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages in exchange for Israel releasing about 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Doha on Sunday for talks on securing a truce in the Gaza war with the Qatari emir, whose country has been at the heart of mediation efforts and hosts political leaders of militant group Hamas.

On the other hand, Israeli strikes on the Gaza strip over the past 96 hours have killed two Israeli hostages and seriously injured eight others, Hamas’ armed-wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, said on Sunday over the group’s Telegram channel.

“Their conditions are becoming more dangerous in light of the inability to provide them with appropriate treatment. (Israel) bears full responsibility for the lives of those injured in light of their continued bombing,” the statement said

Netanyahu also said that one Palestinian civilian has been killed for every Hamas fighter killed in Gaza.

Health authorities in Gaza, controlled by Hamas, estimate about 28,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the region since the conflict began.