“Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel will increase "military pressure" on Hamas to secure the release of captives currently held in the Gaza Strip by the group - per Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"In the coming days we will increase the military and political pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages," Netanyahu said in a video statement on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, threatening to “deliver additional and painful blows”.

The United States State Department is poised to sanction the “Netzah Yehuda” battalion within the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) for human rights violations in the West Bank - three US sources with knowledge of the issue told Axios.

The sanctions, which are expected to be announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a few days, would mark the first time that the United States impose sanctions targeting the “Israeli” army.

The “Netzah Yehuda” battalion and its members will be banned from receiving any American military aid or training - per Axios.

“Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “sanctions must not be imposed on the Israeli Defense Forces!” in a post on his official “X” account.

The decision to sanction an IOF unit is “the height of absurdity and a moral low,” he added, “I have been working against the imposition of sanctions on Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior American government officials.”

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