Palestinian militant group Hamas warned Israel on Wednesday (March 26), saying that if they try to retrieve hostages "by force", Hamas will send them back "in coffins". 

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Hamas shared a statement, saying that the Palestinian militant group is doing everything possible to keep the hostages alive. 

"It was "doing everything possible to keep the occupation's captives alive, but the random Zionist (Israeli) bombardment is endangering their lives," the group said in the statement. 

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"Every time the occupation attempts to retrieve its captives by force, it ends up bringing them back in coffins," it added. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a telephone conversation with the mother of hostage Elkana Bohbot. This comes a day after she criticised the Prime Minister’s Office and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the new head of the hostage negotiating team, for not speaking with her or her family.

“No one is speaking with us,” Ruhama Bohbot said last night when asked by Channel 12 if any government officials, including Dermer and Netanyahu, had contacted the family.

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Moreover, Elkana’s two brothers also joined the conversation, the PMO said. 

Last week, US President Donald Trump expressed his full support for Israel's deadly resumption of air and ground operations in Gaza. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, on Thursday (Mar 20), condemned Hamas for the escalating conflict and said that Trump had already warned the Palestinian militant group that if it does not release hostages, "there would be all hell to pay".

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"He fully supports Israel and the IDF and the actions that they've taken in recent days," Leavitt told reporters when asked if Trump was trying to get a Gaza ceasefire back on track.

Earlier on Wednesday, two rockets were launched from the central Gaza Strip at southern Israel, the Israeli military said. 

Rocket sirens sounded in the Gaza border communities of Alumim, Zimrat, Shuva, Kfar Maimon and Tushia.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said that one of the rockets was intercepted by air defenses, while the second struck in the area of Zimrat.

Also read: Israel kills top Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in targeted airstrike at Gaza's Nasser hospital

(With inputs from agencies)