Netanyahu Tells Israelis Future Negotiations with Hamas to be Held 'Under Fire'

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the nation Tuesday the rules of negotiating with Hamas have changed. From now on, he said, hostage talks will only be held "under fire."

The prime minister explained that the new rule is designed to achieve the war goals set out nearly 18 months ago: "The release of our hostages, the elimination of Hamas, and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel."  

As Israel's military returns to war in Gaza with devastating force, it's letting Hamas know the attacks won't stop until the terror group produces results, such as freeing more hostages.

Defense Minister Israel Katz added a stern warning to Hamas, vowing if it does not "immediately release all the kidnapped men and women, the gates of hell will open and it will find the full might of the IDF in the air, at sea, and on land facing it until it is completely destroyed.

Yet, some freed hostages and families of those still held captive are begging Israel to stop the fighting since Hamas has threatened it might kill hostages in revenge.

Einav Zanguaker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, stated, "Reality has already proven to us that war will not return hostages. It will kill them."

However, Netanyahu insists the military action is responsible for forcing Hamas to release 196 hostages in recent months.

He declared, “A simple thing was proven, military pressure is a necessary condition for the release of additional hostages. The military attack on Hamas and the release of our hostages are not contradictory goals – they are goals that are intertwined.”

As the fighting resumes, Netanyahu is warning Palestinian civilians to flee the fighting.

He urged, "I call on the people of Gaza, get out of harm’s way. Move to safer areas – because every civilian casualty is a tragedy."

To prevent civilian casualties, the IDF released a map for residents to get out of harm's way. 

IDF International Spokesman Nadav Shoshani told CBN News, “We're doing our best to operate against those terrorists."Part of that is warnings we give out as we gave out a warning – this warning – for the population to move from an area we're about to operate in. And that's something that the Western world hasn't seen, an army giving up the element of surprise just to give an opportunity to the civilians to get out of harm's way."

Shoshani continued, "But we're committed to that. That's our principles, our values, is to make sure that we are fighting terrorists and not civilians and make sure we do everything in our force to bring back those hostages and everything in our ability to make sure that when we operate, we're not operating in areas they are in."

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Houthi rebels fired a missile Tuesday night, unsuccessfully, at an Israeli military base. The Iranian-backed group promises more are coming.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, Houthi military spokesman, announced, “The Yemeni Armed Forces will expand the scope of targets in occupied Palestine in the coming hours and days."

Earlier this week, the White House said that any shot fired by the Houthis in Yemen would be counted as a shot from Iran. On Tuesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt re-emphasized the warning.

"Our message to Iran is you better take this president seriously. And I think the Houthis learned that the hard way this past weekend," Leavitt said.

A Tuesday phone call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin dealt primarily with Ukraine, but they also discussed Iran.

A readout of the meeting stated, "The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to develop nuclear weapons that could destroy Israel.