Netanyahu announces $5m reward for release of each Gaza hostage

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel was offering a reward of $5 million to anybody who brings out a hostage held in Gaza.

“Anybody who brings out a hostage will find with us a secure way for them and their family to leave” Gaza, Netanyahu said in a video filmed inside the Palestinian territory, according to his office.

“We will also give them a reward of $5 million for each hostage.”

Wearing a helmet and a bullet-proof jacket, Netanyahu spoke with his back to the Mediterranean in the Netzarim Corridor, Israel’s main military supply route which carves the Gaza Strip in two just south of Gaza City.

“Anyone who dares to do harm to our hostages is considered dead — we will pursue you and we will catch up with you,” he said.

Accompanied by Defence Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu underlined that one of Israel’s war aims remained that “Hamas does not rule in Gaza”.

“We are also making efforts to locate the hostages and bring them home. We won’t give up. We will continue until we’ve found them all, alive or dead.”

During Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack which triggered the war in Gaza, fighters took 251 hostages. Of those, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 34 who have been confirmed dead.