The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuurged to continue to apply “military pressure” on Gaza until an “absolute victory” is achieved, which includes the release of the hostages, without accepting Hamas’ demands for a possible ceasefire agreement.
“Continuation of military pressure is a necessary prerequisite for the release of the hostages. Submitting to Hamas will only lead to another massacre,” Netanyahu said in a news conference, adding that the Israeli army must “methodically destroy Hamas until it reaches the brink.”does not pose a threat to Israel“.
With his statements, the head of government publicly rejected the conditions he was demanding Hamas to release more than a hundred Israeli hostages still in the Gaza Strip. As a framework for this, the Islamist group is calling for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the offensive in the enclave Release of prisonersa demand that Israel does not accept and that represents a major obstacle to the ceasefire.
“Only an absolute victory will give Israel security,” stressed Netanyahu, who assured that this was the case Israeli armed forces They continue to campaign for the release of the hostages, while their relatives continue to exert great pressure to reach an agreement that would see them released.
Affirms that Israel is “on the path to victory” in Gaza
He also reiterated that Israel is “on the path to victory” in the Gaza Strip and stressed that the war will end.within a few months“ amid the advance of Israeli troops in their ground offensive on Gaza.
As he pointed out, the army has already achieved “unprecedented successes” while “continuing to kill terrorists,” destroy command centers, military infrastructure, or “the tunnels in which Hamas is hiding“.
At the same time, he insisted that after defeating the Islamist group Israel will maintain control of Gaza and attempt to “demilitarize” it. forever“.
“We will continue until the end,” he stressed, amid speculation that Israeli troops now intend to focus their operations on the southern end of the enclave. Rafah. More than a million civilians are crowded into this city on the border with Egypt, and if it were captured, Israel would secure land control over the entire Gaza Strip.
After his attack on Israel on October 7th, which caused quite a stir 1,200 deadThe Israeli offensive on the enclave has left more than its mark 27,700 Palestinians Deaths in four months, a landscape of severe destruction in Gaza and an extreme humanitarian crisis.