Israel vows to ‘increase the attacks’ on Hamas targets in Gaza as allies race to free hostages: ‘Next phase of the war’

Israel vowed to accelerate long-range artillery fire and airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza Saturday, as its tanks massed on the enclave’s border ahead of an expected ground offensive.

“We have to enter the next phase of the war in the best conditions, not according to what anyone tells us,” IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters.

“From today, we are increasing the strikes and minimizing the danger” to the Israeli troops that will soon invade.

“We are going to increase the attacks, from today,” he vowed.

The heightened pace of the long-distance attacks — the standard means of softening resistance ahead of a ground invasion begins — came as the US and several European allies urged Israel to pause its military operation in hopes of securing the release of 210 hostages, including 30 children, who remain in what will soon be a combat zone.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly “called for discipline and professionalism and restraint from the Israeli military,” according to the BBC — saying that an expansion of the conflict “is exactly what Hamas wants.”

The US government’s effort to free the remaining American hostages in the Gaza Strip is intensifying ahead of Israel’s expected invasion, the Washington Post reported.

Two US hostages, Judith and Natalie Raanan of Illinois, were freed Friday.

“The hope is that this is seen as an olive branch,” one US diplomat told NBC News.

“We are optimistic that the hostages, especially the civilians, will be released very soon,” senior Qatari official Majed Al-Ansari told the German newspaper Die Welt — saying that the Raanans’ freedom came “within a framework that confirms the positive intention to release the hostages.”

With 10 Americans still among the missing, US negotiators working with mediators in Qatar fear that discussions will collapse once the IDF invades.

President Biden said “yes” when reporters asked him late Friday if the IDF should delay its ground invasion — but the White House sought to walk back his response, claiming the 80-year-old president had misheard the question.

But Hamas announced Saturday it will not discuss the fate of what it called “Israeli army captives” until Israel ends its “aggression” – casting doubt on the prospects of the diplomatic efforts.

“Our stance with regards to Israeli army captives is clear: it’s related to a [possible] exchange of prisoners, and we will not discuss it until Israel ends its aggression on Gaza and Palestinians,” Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official, told reporters from Lebanon.

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old American with dual Israeli citizenship was killed Saturday by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon, as the Hezbollah terror group claimed responsibility for several rocket and missile attacks on military positions and towns in northern Israel.

Staff Sgt. (res.) Omer Balva, who grew up in Rockville, Maryland, was in the US when Hamas fighters killed more than 1,000 civilians in a shocking Oct. 7 attack.

He returned to Israel last week as the IDF called more than 360,000 reservists to report for duty.

The IDF responded to Hezbollah’s assaults with drone strikes in southern Lebanon.

The first trucks carrying international aid entered southern Gaza early Saturday as the Rafah crossing into Egypt briefly opened, then closed again while the Israeli rocket barrage continued.

About 20 trucks carrying food, medical supplies, and 44,000 bottles of drinking water arrived to assist thousands of refugees who have fled the enclave’s northern section.

2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip over three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.

2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.

2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.

2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.

2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years.

Over 1,400 Israelis are dead, more than 4,200 are wounded and at least 100 were taken hostage, with the death toll expected to rise after Hamas terrorists fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of militants into Israeli towns.

Hamas terrorists were seen taking female hostages and parading them down the street in horrifying videos.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”

Gaza health officials report at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured.

Elsewhere in the region:

Leaders from more than two dozen countries gathered in Cairo, Egypt for a one-day summit to discuss ways to “de-escalate” the war.

The Cairo Summit for Peace included representatives from countries including Jordan, France, Germany, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Qatar and South Africa — but the delegations left the meeting without issuing a final joint statement due to “differences” on the phrasing of the communique, CNN reported.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, the meeting’s host, emphasized that his government will not accept an influx of refugees from Gaza — because doing so would “end the statehood dream.”

“The whole Egyptian people won’t accept the liquidation of the Palestinian cause … and will never happen on the expanse of Egypt,” el-Sissi said.