(March 2, 2025 / JNS) Hamas will no longer receive “free meals,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday, threatening further consequences if the terrorist group refuses to release hostages.

“Hamas is currently controlling all the supplies and goods that are being sent to the Gaza Strip,” the premier reiterated in remarks ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. The Islamist organization “is abusing Gazans trying to receive aid; it is shooting at them, and it is turning humanitarian aid into a terrorist budget that is directed against us.”

If Hamas continues its opposition to a ceasefire and hostage release deal during Ramadan and Passover, as proposed by Washington and accepted by Jerusalem, “there will be further consequences—and I will not elaborate on them here,” said Netanyahu.