Education Minister Yoav Kisch on Saturday evening turned to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a demand to present the Hamas terror group with an ultimatum.
In a letter sent to Netanyahu's office, Kisch demanded that Netanyahu insist on "the return of all hostages by next Saturday - or the fire of hell will open on Gaza."
"The State of Israel must demand the return of all of the hostages now," Kisch declared. "If Hamas does not return all of the hostages by Saturday, that means a return to war at a high intensity, preventing humanitarian aid and fuel from entering Gaza, evacuating northern Gaza and evacuating all of the Gazans in accordance with Trump's plan. We must defeat Hamas and shatter its control of Gaza."
There are still 63 hostages in Gaza, around half of whom are presumed dead. On Thursday, four dead hostages are expected to be released, bringing an official end to the first stage of the deal with Hamas.
Negotiations for the deal's second stage have not yet borne fruit, in large part due to Hamas' repeated violations of the first stage.