Xinhua Agency, Jerusalem, October 18 (Reporters Chen Junqing and Feng Guorui) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on an Israeli television program on the 18th that he would participate in the Israeli general election scheduled for November 2026 and seek re-election.
According to the Times of Israel, when Netanyahu was asked on television that night whether he expected to win the election, he answered in the affirmative.
Speaking of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, he said the conflict would be “completely ended” when all the terms of the ceasefire agreement were implemented, stressing that the war would only end after the disarmament of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the de-militarization of the Gaza Strip.
According to several Israeli media reports, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) received two coffins with bodies of Israeli detainees from Hamas in the southern part of the Gaza Strip earlier this month, and then handed over to the Israeli military.The two bodies will be sent to a forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.
To date, Hamas has handed over 13 bodies to Israel, saying one of them was not an Israeli detainee. Under the first phase of Gaza ceasefire agreement, Israel and Hamas began exchanges on the 13th. Hamas released two groups of 20 detainees on the same day and Israel released 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The Israeli government on 14 December decided to suspend the reopening of the Rafah port, which is critical for the transport of aid supplies, due to Hamas’ failure to deliver the remains of all detainees on time. The Rafah port is still closed to date. The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on 18 December that whether the Rafah port will be reopened will depend on whether Hamas will deliver the remains of all detainees from Israel.
Hamas recently reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire agreement, but it will take some time to deliver all the remains because some of the remains were buried in the ruins of Israeli bombed buildings and destroyed by the Israeli army.