Hamas threatens to EXECUTE hostages unless its demands are met - as IDF inches closer to terror chief's Gaza stronghold and Israeli official hints brutal fighting could last MONTHS

Hamas has threatened to execute hostages unless Israel meets its demands, as Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to the terror group to surrender immediately or face certain death.

Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida made a chilling threat to Israel and what he called 'its arrogant leadership' on Sunday, vowing that it would not get its hostages back alive 'without an exchange and negotiation and meeting the demands of the resistance.'

As the two sides traded blows, hopes for a ceasefire were wearing thin, with Israel hinting that it is willing to continue its bitter fight for months or longer to completely eradicate Hamas and mediator Qatar saying willingness to negotiate is fading. 

Israel declared war following the sickening October 7 attack by Hamas and other groups, which saw 1,200 people killed and around 240 dragged back to Gaza as hostages. More than 18,000 have been killed in Gaza, Hamas authorities say. 

Over 100 women and children being held by Hamas were freed during a weeklong ceasefire late last month, which saw three Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails for every one hostage handed back. 

On Sunday night, ​Netanyahu called on Hamas to 'surrender now' and warned that 'it is the beginning of the end' for the terror group.

As Israel's relentless military offensive in Gaza continues to rumble on, the IDF has hinted it is closing in on top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, its number one target who is dubbed 'Gaza's Bin Laden'.

Reports suggest Sinwar is in hiding at an address in northwest Khan Younis, a southern city being encircled by IDF troops. 

In a televised statement this evening, Netanyahu declared: '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 Sinwar. Surrender now.' 

Despite suggestions that Hamas was close to 'disintegrating', national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, hinted that the war could continue for months, with key ally the United States not setting a deadline for Israel to achieve its goals. 

'The evaluation that this can't be measured in weeks is correct, and I'm not sure it can be measured in months,' he told Israel's Channel 12.

Israel has pressed ahead with its offensive after the US blocked the latest international efforts to halt fighting and rushed more munitions to its ally. 

Heavy fighting raged in and around Khan Younis over the weekend, with the IDF warning civilians to flee the centre, with the humanitarian situation becoming increasingly dire as thousands seek shelter in a shrinking area of the south of Gaza.

Hopes for a new ceasefire are fading as mediator Qatar said today that there is a 'narrowing' window to secure a truce, while vowing that it would continue to put pressure on both sides to halt the violence.

Hitting out at Israeli claims that Hamas is on the brink of extinction, the terror group boasted of success in their fight with Israel, brushing over its significant losses.

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

'The end of the occupation has begun in Gaza,' Rishq insisted, despite sharing no evidence of this and there being no sign that Israel is letting up in its onslaught.

Hamas earlier said Israel had launched a series of 'very violent raids' targeting Khan Younis and the road linking it to Rafah, near the border with Egypt. 

Civilians had been warned by the IDF to evacuate south to the two cities while fighting was focused in the north of Gaza, but now large swathes of the south previously labelled 'safe zones' are being targeted.

The UN estimates 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced - roughly half of them children - many forced south and running out of safe places to go.

With hundreds of thousands crammed into a tiny area of land, the World Health Organization has said the territory's health system is collapsing after more than two months of war. 

As aid groups warn the territory is on the brink of being overwhelmed by disease and starvation, the head of the United Nations decried a divided and 'paralysed' Security Council for failing to agree on a ceasefire.

'Gaza's health system is on its knees and collapsing,' said World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, with only 14 of 36 hospitals functioning at any capacity.

WHO's executive board on Sunday adopted a resolution calling for immediate, unimpeded aid deliveries.

Despite the worsening humanitarian situation, rising death toll and pressure from key ally the US to reduce civilian casualties, Israel has vowed to 'press harder' in Gaza as it says Hamas appears close to 'disintegrating'.

It said that more and more Hamas fighters are giving themselves up as ground operations are ramping up across the Gaza Strip. 

Netanyahu said on Sunday: 'In the past few days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered to our forces.'

The Israeli military has, however, not released proof that Hamas terrorists are surrendering, and Hamas has rejected such claims.

The IDF continued its onslaught against Hamas on Sunday as dozens more terror suspects were pictured bound, stripped and lined up on their knees.

Footage shared by Israeli media shows Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops rounding up scores of men and transporting them on the back of trucks.

IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that leaked footage and photos showing troops detaining Palestinian men in northern Gaza was not distributed by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

He added that while 'dozens' of the detained men are Hamas fighters, many others are uninvolved civilians.

The detained men are believed to have surrendered in the Jabalia refugee camp and other areas around northern Gaza. 

One clip shared to social media shows Palestinian men lined up against a wall.

One man then steps forward to give his assault rifle to the Israeli troops with his hands in the air, while others behind him hold their up their identification cards.

As bombs continued to rain down on Gaza last night, IDF chief Herzi Halevi declared his forces must 'press harder' to dismantle Hamas's terror network.

'Every day, we're seeing more and more terrorists killed, more and more terrorists wounded, and in recent days we're seeing terrorists surrendering - this is a sign their network's falling apart, a sign we need to press harder,' Halevi said at a ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. 

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli troops have detained and interrogated hundreds of people in Gaza suspected of militant links. 

Hagari told reporters: 'Jabalia and Shejaiya are 'centres of gravity'... for terrorists, and we are fighting them.

'They are hiding underground and come out and we fight them. Whoever is left in those areas, they come out from tunnel shafts, and some from buildings, and we investigate who is linked to Hamas, and who isn't. We arrest them all and interrogate them.' 

Meanwhile on Friday, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told IDF soldiers that he 'sees the signs indicating a breakdown is beginning inside Gaza'. 

It comes after Israel vowed to continue its 'just war to eliminate Hamas', as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the United States for blocking a United Nations ceasefire bid.

The US, a key ally of Israel, was the only member to veto the UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, while the UK abstained in the vote, despite widespread international support.

Israeli warplanes struck parts of the Gaza Strip in relentless bombardment on Saturday, hitting some of the dwindling bits of land that Israel had described as safe zones when telling Palestinians in the south to evacuate.

Residents 'are being told to move like human pinballs - ricocheting between ever-smaller slivers of the south, without any of the basics for survival,' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council before the UNSC vote.

Israel holds the Hamas militants responsible for civilian casualties, accusing them of using civilians as human shields, and says it has made considerable efforts with evacuation orders to get civilians out of harm's way. 

Israel says Hamas operates from within hospitals and has released footage supporting the claim, and it has also targeted in the past ambulances it says were used by Hamas. Hamas has denied this. 

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

Hamas triggered the conflict with the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7 in which it killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, and dragged around 240 hostages back to Gaza, 138 of whom remain captive, according to Israeli figures.

Israel has responded with a relentless military offensive that has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed at least 17,997 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.