Israel renews land seizure threat as Hamas faces more protests in Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu has repeated Israeli threats to seize territory in the Gaza if Hamas refuses to release the remaining hostages, as, for the second consecutive day, hundreds of Palestinians joined protests against the militant group and demanding the end of the war.

- Lorenzo Tondo

The Israeli prime minister's warning came a week after Israel resumed its military operation in the territory, shattering the relative calm of a January ceasefire with Hamas.

"The more Hamas continues in its refusal to release our hostages, the more powerful the repression we exert will be," Netanyahu told a hearing in parliament, which was occasionally interrupted by shouting from opposition members. "This includes seizing territory and it includes other things," he said.

"I say this to my colleagues in the Knesset, and I say it to Hamas as well: This includes the seizure of territories, along with other measures I will not elaborate here."

Hamas warned yesterday that hostages may be killed if Israel attempts to use its military to retrieve them.

"Every time the occupation attempts to retrieve its captives by force, it ends up bringing them back in coffins," the group said in a statement.