Far-right Israeli politician calls for 'massive' attack on Gaza after Hamas delays hostage release over 'violations'

Far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday called for an all-out military assault on Gaza, including air and ground strikes, after Hamas said it was postponing the release of hostages planned for Saturday due to Israeli violations of the Jan. 19 ceasefire agreement.

"Hamas's announcement should have one real-life response: a massive fire attack on Gaza, from the air and land, alongside a complete halt to humanitarian aid to the Strip, including electricity, fuel, and water," the former national security minister said on X.

In January, Ben-Gvir resigned from the government in opposition to the Gaza truce deal. He has since advocated for what he calls "voluntary migration" of Palestinians from Gaza.

He called for bombing of aid packages that have already been brought in the enclave. "We must return to war and destroy," he said.

Hamas accused Israel of not allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes, and to facilitate humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Following the announcement by the Palestinian group, Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the army to prepare at the "highest level of alert" for any possible scenario in Gaza.

Katz said the Hamas announcement constitutes an "outright violation" of the truce agreement mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the country remains committed to the truce agreement "as written" and "takes any violations seriously."

The three-phase ceasefire has suspended Israel's 15-month-old genocidal war that has killed more than 48,000 people in Gaza and left it in ruins.

In the first part of the deal, which runs until early March, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners. The sixth Israeli-Hamas swap was scheduled this week.