A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment on the Palestinian enclave on Nov 17, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (PHOTO / AFP)

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed that a temporary cease-fire in the Gaza Strip is possible only if "we can get our hostages back."

Netanyahu made the remarks in an interview with US news outlet CBS published on Thursday, during which he hailed that the ground operation conducted by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has brought Israel closer to its target of securing the release of about 240 hostages held in Gaza.

Insisting that the hospital is also serving as an arms cache, an accusation repeatedly denied by Hamas and the hospital administration, the IDF carried out two days of combing and searching inside the hospital

His remarks came as thousands of Israeli protesters, including hostages' family members, continued to march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to call for the release of Israeli captives in Gaza. They are supposed to arrive in Jerusalem on Saturday evening and rally outside the Prime Minister's Office.

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On the operations against Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, the Israeli prime minister claimed that there are "strong indications" that some of the hostages were held in the hospital, citing it as "one of the reasons we entered the hospital." 

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Earlier in the day, the Israeli army announced that the body of an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas militants during the Oct 7 attacks was returned to Israel after being discovered in a building adjacent to Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital.

Insisting that the hospital is also serving as an arms cache, an accusation repeatedly denied by Hamas and the hospital administration, the IDF carried out two days of combing and searching inside the hospital.

A girl carries posters of 27-year-old Eliya Cohen (left) and 10-year-old Ofry Brodutch as relatives, friends and supporters of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel, protest calling for their release as they march towards Jerusalem on Nov 17, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (PHOTO / AFP)

In addition, the IDF continued operations overnight in Gaza, and its fighter jets struck many targets in the Palestinian enclave. Israeli troops took control of a stronghold of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, where heavy rockets were found, and stormed a school where the IDF said Hamas militants were hiding, according to an IDF statement on Friday morning.

READ MORE: Israeli army raids Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital despite ceasefire calls

Meanwhile, rockets were launched from Gaza to Israel's Tel Aviv and surrounding cities on Friday evening, with no immediate injuries reported.

On the Lebanon front, Hezbollah continued exchanges of fire with Israeli forces, causing three Israeli injuries and damage to two Lebanese military centers and over 28 houses in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli media reports and Lebanese military sources, who asked to remain anonymous.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct 28, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

The sources said Israeli forces fired more than 175 missiles and carried out 12 air raids targeting dozens of Lebanese border towns and villages, while three batches of missiles and three drones were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israeli sites and targets.

Also on Friday, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi confirmed in a press conference that Israel has approved the transfer of two fuel trucks into Gaza every day, in a bid to maintain the operation of the sewage treatment system in Gaza and prevent the spread of disease.

The decision, however, triggered outrage from Israeli politicians, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and opposition lawmaker Avigdor Liberman.

Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli strike on Rafah, Gaza Strip, Nov 17, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

On the same day, six trucks carrying 150,000 liters of diesel crossed the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, the sole point connecting Gaza with Egypt's North Sinai province, according to Egyptian media reports.

Israel launched a massive attack on Gaza in retaliation for the surprise strike led by Hamas on Oct 7, in which Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The ongoing conflict, raging into the second month, has killed more than 12,000 Palestinians, wounded some 30,000 others in the coastal enclave, and dragged the territory into a critical humanitarian crisis. 

An installation featuring mock shrouded bodies of children is set up in Palestine square in Iran's capital Tehran on Nov 13, 2023, in support of Palestinians amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (PHOTO / AFP)

About 26 Palestinians killed 

About 26 Palestinians, mostly children, were killed in an Israeli bombardment of Khan Yunis city in south Gaza early on Saturday, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. 

Death toll surpasses 12,000

Gaza's government media office announced on Friday that the total number of Palestinian deaths in the enclave has exceeded 12,000 since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct 7.

Ismail al-Thawabta, the director general of the media office, said at a press conference that among the dead were 5,000 children and 3,300 women, adding that more than 30,000 people were variously injured.

Al-Thawabta said the number of missing persons had surpassed 3,750, including 1,800 children still under the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli attacks.

He accused the Israeli army of deliberately targeting hospitals in the Gaza Strip to deprive Palestinians of health services and push them to be displaced.

The Palestinian official called on the international community to intervene to "liberate the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and supply it with fuel urgently," in light of the danger facing hundreds of sick and wounded people and thousands of displaced people taking shelter inside.

The medical complex, the largest health institution in Gaza, recently encountered combing operations and blockade by Israeli forces, who insisted that the hospital is used by Hamas for military purposes, a claim repeatedly denied by Hamas and the hospital administration.

Israel has been carrying out an all-out attack on Gaza to retaliate against the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on Oct 7, during which Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages.