Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not agree to a deal releasing all of the hostages if did not end Hamas control over Gaza, reported from TASS.

"No, I don't think that," he said in an interview with Time. "We have to achieve both goals, achieve the release of all the hostages and win the war. And I believe it's possible."

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel last October accompanied by killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking multiple hostages. Israel declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started a ground operation in the enclave that goes on to this day.

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