US President-elect Donald Trump said the Middle East would have to pay a heavy price if hostages held in the Gaza Strip were not released before he took office on January 20, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
In its deadly attack on Israel in 2023. led by the Palestinian armed group "Hamas" militants captured more than 250 people, according to Israeli figures, including several with dual Israeli-American citizenship.
About half of the 101 foreign and Israeli hostages still being held captive in Gaza are believed to be still alive, Reuters noted.
"If the hostages are not released before January 20, 2025, the date I will proudly take office as President of the United States, the Middle East will pay a heavy price, as will those responsible for these atrocities against humanity", Trump wrote on social networks in one of his most categorical comments regarding the fate of the Israeli hostages since his election in November.
"Those responsible will be hit harder than anyone else has ever been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America," he added.
Recently "Hamas" called for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal to free the remaining hostages, Reuters notes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war will continue until the movement "Hamas" not be destroyed and not cease to be a threat to Israel.
"Hamas" reported yesterday that 33 hostages had been killed during the nearly 14-month war between the Palestinian armed group and Israeli forces in the coastal territory, without specifying the nationalities of the dead.
During the brutal attacks carried out by fighters of "Hamas" and other terrorist groups in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, about 1,200 people were killed and 250 were captured and taken hostage in Gaza. Since the attack, Israel has launched a war in the Gaza Strip, in which the Palestinian Authority has said more than 44,400 people have been killed and most of the population displaced. Vast parts of Gaza have been turned into ruins, notes Reuters.
The Israeli Air Force struck military sites, armed radicals and dozens of rocket launchers of the Shiite movement "Hezbollah" throughout the territory of Lebanon in response to rocket fire on Mount Dov, the press service of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced, quoted by BTA.
"The Israeli Air Force has struck Hezbollah terrorists, dozens of launchers and terrorist infrastructure across Lebanon. In addition, Israeli warplanes also struck a launcher of the Shiite movement in the Bergoz area of southern Lebanon after two rockets were fired from it in the direction of Mount Dov, the statement said.
The IDF also reported on an intercepted drone that was heading towards Israeli airspace from the east, DPA reported.
An Israeli warship in the Red Sea destroyed the unmanned aerial vehicle, the military added. So far, there is no information from where the drone was launched.
In previous cases, flying objects approaching Israel from the east turned out to be drones carrying explosives launched by pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.
Media in Israel reported that these attacks could lead to an Israeli counterstrike in Iraq.
The US has warned against exaggerating the significance of Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire violations.
"When there is a ceasefire in effect, there are usually violations," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington.
Almost simultaneously with his speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a "powerful" military response to Hezbollah's attack on the Mount Dov area in northern Israel, which it described as a serious violation of the ceasefire.
Miller, however, insisted that the ceasefire was a success. According to him, the fighting has generally stopped. At the same time, he emphasized that the US does not want the truce to fail.
Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire. Israel says it will attack targets in Lebanon only if the Shiite movement does not abide by the agreements.