Netanyahu vows to disarm Hamas by “agreement or war”

‘Israeli’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he hoped to bring home the captives being held by Hamas in a matter of days, as negotiators headed to Cairo for talks aimed at putting an end to nearly two years of war on Gaza.

US President Donald Trump warned he would "not tolerate delay" from the Palestinian group, after it responded positively to his roadmap for freeing the captives and administering post-war Gaza.

While Trump had called on ‘Israel’ to halt its bombardment of the Gaza Strip following Hamas's announcement, the strikes continued on Saturday, with at least 57 people killed since dawn, according to the territory's civil defence agency.

Netanyahu claimed "military and diplomatic pressure" compelled Hamas to agree to release the captives in a televised statement on Saturday.

"I hope that in the coming days we will be able to bring back all our hostages... during the Sukkot holidays," Netanyahu said, referring to the Jewish festival that begins on Monday and runs for one week.

The premier added he had ordered negotiators to Egypt "to finalise the technical details", with Cairo confirming it would also be hosting a delegation from Hamas for talks on "the ground conditions and details of the exchange of all Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners" as per Trump's proposal.

Trump also dispatched two envoys to Egypt on Saturday, according to the White House -- his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his main Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff.

On Friday night, Hamas announced "its approval for the release of all captives -- living and remains -- according to the exchange formula included in President Trump's proposal".

Trump immediately hailed the statement as evidence the group was "ready for a lasting PEACE", calling on ‘Israel’ to stop its bombing.

On Saturday, he warned the group to "move quickly" towards a deal "or else all bets will be off".

Netanyahu, meanwhile, insisted in his remarks Saturday that "Hamas will be disarmed... either diplomatically via Trump's plan or militarily by us".

“Same intensity”

Despite Trump's call for a pause in operations, ‘Israel’ carried out deadly strikes across Gaza on Saturday.

"The death toll from the ongoing Israeli bombardment since dawn today stands at 57, including 40 in Gaza City alone," said Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for the civil defence agency.

‘Israeli’ forces have carried out a sweeping air and ground assault in recent weeks around the city.

"The Israeli bombardment on Gaza continues with the same intensity and pattern -- air strikes, artillery shelling and quadcopter drone fire are ongoing," said Mohammed al-Mughayyir, also of the civil defence agency.

The ‘Israeli’ military said it was still operating in Gaza City and warned residents not to return there, adding that doing so would be "extremely dangerous".

Hebrew media reported that the military had shifted to a defensive posture in Gaza following Trump's call, though the military did not confirm this in a statement.