Key Points

"We still don't know the final result. I hope he is no longer with us, but I notice that there is no one to address this question on the Hamas side. So hours and days will surely say what they will say," Netanyahu said.

Abu Obeida had long been the prominent voice of Hamas, delivering the group's statements and fueling its psychological campaigns since 2006. On Friday evening, he issued his last apparent statement, warning that Israel's planned assault on Gaza City would put hostages at the same risk as Hamas fighters themselves.

Palestinian reports said Hamas gunmen prevented people from approaching the area of the Gaza City building where Abu Obeida was likely killed.

Netanyahu praised the heroism of the returned hostages, Idan Shtivi and Ilan Weiss, whose bodies were recovered by soldiers and positively identified.

Weiss, 56, was the deputy commander of Kibbutz Be'eri's emergency response team and was last seen on the morning of October 7, 2023, when he left his house to join his team at the kibbutz armory. Shtivi, 28, was photographing the Nova Music Festival and was killed while trying to save others.

"They are two heroes. Both of them acted to try to rescue and save. Shtivi was in Nova, and he acted. He could have rescued himself, but he went and rescued and came back and rescued, and then he was shot in the back. Ilan Weiss, 56, left his home on the morning of the terrible attack... He ran to the armory, tried to retrieve weapons - and was murdered there," Netanyahu said.

"We worked hard for months to bring them back, and we succeeded," the Prime Minister added.

Turning to Israel's strikes on the Houthi regime in Yemen on Thursday, Netanyahu said, "In a fatal blow, the IDF eliminated most of the Houthi government and other senior military officials."

The Iran-backed group confirmed that Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi and several other ministers were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Sana'a. The announcement did not elaborate on who else was killed or injured. The officials had gathered in a compound in the Yemeni capital to watch a televised speech by leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi.

Since March 18, when Israel resumed its offensive against Hamas, the Houthis have launched 72 ballistic missiles and at least 23 drones at Israel, the majority of which were either intercepted or failed to reach Israeli territory.

Approximately 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 48 remaining hostages, around 20 are believed to be alive. (ANI/TPS)

- ANI