Israel’s Netanyahu calls on Hamas militants to ‘surrender now’

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for Hamas militants to lay down their arms, saying the Palestinian Islamist group’s end was near

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on December 10 called for Hamas militants to lay down their arms, saying the Palestinian Islamist group’s end was near, as the war in the Gaza Strip raged more than two months after it began.

“The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to the Hamas terrorists: It’s over. Don’t die for [Yahya] Sinwar. Surrender now,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the chief of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“In the past few days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered to our forces,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

The military has, however, not released proof of militants surrendering, and Hamas has rejected such claims.

Almost one month ago, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas had “lost control” of Gaza.

The militants late on Sunday boasted of success in their fight with Israeli forces in Gaza.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau, said history would “remember Gaza as the clearest of victories” for the Palestinian militants.