'Full force' threat against battered Gaza

AN ISRAELI far-right minister said yesterday that it was time to use “full force” in Gaza, after Hamas said a new US-backed truce proposal failed to meet its demands.

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Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March ending a six-week truce.

Israel recently intensified its offensive in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.

“Mr Prime Minister, after Hamas rejected the deal proposal again — there are no more excuses,” far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on his Telegram channel, addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “It is time to go in with full force, without blinking, to destroy, and kill Hamas to the last one.”

The White House said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump and US envoy Steve Witkoff had “submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed”.