Israel army chief warns of combat 'without rest'

Israel's top general has warned that there will be no respite in fighting in Gaza if negotiations fail to quickly secure the release of hostages held in the Palestinian territory.

"I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages," said army chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, according to a military statement.

"If not, the combat will continue without rest," he said, during remarks to officers inside Gaza on Friday.


Footage released by the Israeli military showed Zamir meeting soldiers and officers in a command centre.

Of the 251 people who were kidnapped from Israel during Hamas's attack in Oct 2023, 49 remain in Gaza, 27 of them dead, according to the military. Palestinian armed groups this week released two videos of hostages looking emaciated and weak.

Hamas said on Saturday that it would not lay down arms unless an independent Palestinian state is established. In a statement, the Palestinian militant faction said its "armed resistance ... cannot be relinquished except through the full restoration of our national rights, foremost among them the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."

Hospitals in Gaza reported the killing of over a dozen people, eight of them food-seekers, by Israeli fire on Saturday as Palestinians endured severe risks searching for food amid airdrops and restrictions on overland aid delivery.

Seven Palestinians died of malnutrition-related causes in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said on Saturday. They include a child, it said in a statement, bringing total deaths among children from causes related to malnutrition in Gaza to 93 since the war began.