In the wake of the celebratory spectacle put on by Hamas terrorists as they released the bodies of murdered hostages last week, Israel is signaling it may end the tenuous ceasefire deal. At the same time, the Jewish state is clamping down on terrorist threats emanating from Judea and Samaria.

On Tuesday, The Times of Israel reported that negotiations are still ongoing even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the delay of a Palestinian prisoner-Israeli hostage exchange in response to last week’s morbid Hamas celebrations in Gaza over the hostages’ bodies, in which 602 prisoners were to be released in exchange for six living hostages.

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks moved into the city of Jenin in northern Samaria over the weekend in an effort to combat an increase in terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. Last week, three commuter buses were destroyed by explosive devices near Tel Aviv, which happened to be unoccupied after having just finished their routes.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Israeli forces would remain in Judea and Samaria for the foreseeable future. “We are at war with Islamic terror in Judea and Samaria. I have instructed the IDF to prepare for a prolonged stay in the cleared camps for the coming year, and not to allow the return of residents and for terror to return and grow.”

On Monday, David Mencer, Israeli Government Spokesman for the National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Office of the Prime Minister, joined “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” to give an update on the situation.

“This operation … against terror in northern Samaria has been made bigger, expanded,” he explained. “Dozens of terrorists have been eliminated. Hundreds of wanted terrorists have been arrested, and there have been many terror infrastructures which have been attacked from the air and the ground. Look, I’ll make this simple. We were surprised on October the 7th by Iran and their proxy, Hezbollah. They’re trying to do it again in Judea and Samaria. We will not let that happen. There will be no safe havens for terrorists in Judea and Samaria. We’ve sent our tanks in, and we’re putting them there for as long as necessary to ensure that we will not be surprised again.”

Mencer further contended that part of Hamas’s purpose in carrying out the October 7 attack on Israel that killed over 1,200 Israelis was to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the Jewish state.

“The purpose of what Hamas did to Israel on October the 7th was … to tear apart the relationship between Israel and the United States,” he argued. “They wanted to do that by sacrificing their own people, by hiding amongst their own civilians, and they wanted to do that by means of the protests on U.S. media, on European media, on international media, to tear apart the relationship between Israel and the United States.”

“But what occurred to me … is how badly Hamas had failed,” he continued. “They had failed miserably because here was President Trump in the first week or two of his second term, and the first international leader [he met with] was Prime Minister Netanyahu. He welcomed us. We felt the love from his administration as well. And it’s something so important because when terror knows that there’s no daylight between Israel and the U.S., then they will retreat. When they see that daylight, which is what they wanted, then they get stronger. There is no daylight. Now our prime minister and your president are in regular contact, as with every single layer of this government and your administration, and that means that terror is retreating and the forces of democracy, truth, and justice are winning.”

Mencer went on to underscore Israel’s resolve to secure the release of all the remaining 63 hostages and bodies held by Hamas, remarking “we will not rest until we get them all out.”

“[T]his country is determined,” he emphasized. “We are resolute that we will not allow this evil organization to live or to rule over Gaza anymore. Our priority is to bring our people home. Yes, of course we will try to get the living home and the dead for a decent burial. But as the prime minister has made clear, there is no circumstance where this evil organization of Hamas can remain in power in any way, shape, or form in Gaza. It simply won’t happen.”