Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated threats on Wednesday to seize territory in the Gaza strip if Hamas failed to release the remaining hostages it still holds.
"The more Hamas continues in its refusal to release our hostages, the more powerful the repression we exert will be," Netanyahu told a hearing in parliament, which was occasionally interrupted by shouting from opposition members.
"This includes seizing territory and it includes other things," he said.
Earlier, Hamas warned that hostages may be killed if Israel attempts to retrieve them by force and air strikes continue in Gaza.
The group said in a statement that it was "doing everything possible to keep the occupation’s captives alive, but the random Zionist (Israeli) bombardment is endangering their lives."
"Every time the occupation attempts to retrieve its captives by force, it ends up bringing them back in coffins," it said.
