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Kobi Gideon/GPO/TPS-IL on 16 February, 2025
‘Gates of Hell Will Be Opened’ If Hostages Not Freed, Says Netanyahu
Jerusalem, 16 February, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- During a joint appearance with visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the “gates of hell will be opened” if Hamas does not release 73 hostages still being held in Gaza.
“We have a common strategy,” Netanyahu said as Rubio looked on. “And we can’t always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released until the last one of them.”
Rubio said that “Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force and “must be eradicated.” He also stressed that “there can never be a nuclear Iran.”
The visit marks Rubio’s first to the region since becoming Secretary of State. Rubio is due to meet with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and opposition leader Yair Lapid.
Earlier in the day, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced that a shipment of 1,800 heavy bombs whose delivery had been delayed by the previous administration of Joe Biden arrived at the Port of Ashdod.
“The munitions shipment that arrived in Israel tonight, released by the Trump administration, represents a significant asset for the Air Force and the IDF and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
On Saturday, Hamas freed three Israeli hostages including US-Israeli national Sagui Dekel-Chen. The 36-year-old Connecticut native was abducted from his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. On returning to Israel, Dekel-Chen met a daughter for the first time who was born two months after the attack.
The ongoing first phase of the ceasefire is supposed to see a total of 33 Israeli hostages freed over six weeks in exchange for up to 1,904 Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The exact number will depend on how many Israeli captives are alive. Hamas notified Israeli authorities in January that of the 33, eight are dead, but offered no evidence.
Since the first hostage release on Jan. 19, Hamas has freed 19 Israeli and five Thai captives in exchange for 952 imprisoned Palestinian terrorists.
The fate of the remaining 65 hostages will be determined by negotiations during the ceasefire’s second phase. Critics say the phased approach condemns these 65 hostages to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 73 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed to be dead.
