Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invoked victory over the Islamist group Hamas during ongoing efforts in Qatar for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. "We will defeat these monsters and bring back our hostages," Netanyahu told the ultra-conservative US broadcaster Newsmax. He hopes that "within days" as part of a 60-day ceasefire, which is currently being negotiated indirectly, ten of the still-living hostages will be released, the prime minister said.

At the beginning of the ceasefire, talks will also begin to permanently end the war, Netanyahu said in a statement at the end of his visit to the United States, according to his office. But to achieve this, Israel's conditions must be met, Netanyahu explained: Hamas lays down its weapons, no longer has any state or military capability, and Gaza is demilitarized.

If these demands are not met through negotiations within 60 days, Israel will achieve this by force. Agreement with Hamas There are still 50 hostages in Gaza, Netanyahu told Newsmax. "Definitely 20 are alive, and about 30 are not alive, and I want to get them all out." There is now an agreement under which Hamas will initially release ten hostages and hand over about half the number of bodies. But it would also release all the other deportees, both the living and the dead. "I hope we can complete this in a few days," the Israeli prime minister told the US broadcaster.