Netanyahu on Beit Hanoun disaster: We will defeat Hamas
The Prime Minister said there is no timeline and that many of the means being used cannot be publicized, but he did insist that the deal being negotiated is a ceasefire, not the end of the war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a statement today (Tuesday) eulogizing the five soldiers killed in the ambush and killing of five soldiers and wounding of fifteen in northern Gaza yesterday:
"This is a difficult day. We have lost five of our heroic soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion. The mourning and pain unite us across all parts of the nation. At the same time, we are determined not only to extend our condolences to the families we embrace but also to resolutely achieve our war objectives in Gaza: to free all our hostages, to eliminate Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and, of course, to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.
"This means no Hamas. People need to understand this. It’s not just something we say—it involves a specific strategy, which I won’t elaborate on here. It involves actions, some of which are painful, and some that will hit Hamas very hard.But the ultimate result is the release of all our hostages, the defeat and dismantling of Hamas, and ensuring that Gaza no longer threatens Israel. We have not yet completed this task.
"Therefore, will Prime Minister Netanyahu agree to end the war at this time? No, we’re talking about a ceasefire. And we are prepared to end the war under conditions that do not allow Hamas to operate further, that strip it of its governing and military capabilities, and ensure it poses no threat to Israel. There is a very clear plan for how to achieve this. By the way, we see eye to eye with the United States on this. The President and I have discussed it, and our teams have discussed it.
"There’s no need to detail everything because one thing we must understand is that we are fighting a very cruel, very cynical enemy, and we don’t need to hand them our plans. That’s why I refrain from talking about it too much. I set the goals, as I’ve done elsewhere. People didn’t believe we could achieve these goals, but we have, and we will achieve them here too. It’s possible. I will inform you if there is a final decision as needed.
"They asked me yesterday, Mike, about the need, and I said, the need. I cannot set timelines. Of course, we would like this to happen as soon as possible, but it depends, of course, on negotiations. It’s a complex process. I am personally overseeing it almost hourly, and not just me. And again, we are working in full coordination with the United States on this matter. This is part of our strength, our ability to achieve these goals. If they persist, there will be ten souls here immediately, or not immediately, eight immediately, or two more, two more. But our intention is ultimately to reach everyone, the living and the fallen, all of them.
"We intend for Hamas not to rule there. We will do what is necessary to make that happen, and we will employ all our possible forces, and if possible, those of others, to achieve this goal. There will be no more invasions from Gaza, no more acts of rape, no more murders, no more beheadings, no more Hamas. I’m saying this again because people say we can stop, leave them, negotiate with them. We will defeat them when they can no longer fight us, when they lay down their weapons, when Hamas is dismantled, and then demobilized.
"This is a goal we will not give up on. We have the strength, we have proven the strength that lies within us, in our people, in our fighters, in our government.I am not going to give up on this. At the same time, I am not going to give up on the hostages. When we started this war, there were those, very senior figures, who said we should get used to the idea that we wouldn’t free even one. So far, we have freed 255 out of 255, of whom 148 are alive, with 30 remaining—20 confirmed alive, perhaps one or two more, and up to 30 who are fallen. And we intend to bring them all back.
"When people say to me, ‘But you haven’t brought them back yet,’ we have brought back 255 so far, when some thought we couldn’t bring back even one. This comes from the same clear understanding that military pressure—and I say political pressure and now civilian pressure to dismantle Hamas’s ability to control civilian aid—is ultimately the goal we are aiming for. And even if it doesn’t happen in full today, it will happen tomorrow. It will happen, it will happen, and we will defeat Hamas. We will eliminate its governing and civilian capabilities. I’ve repeated this three or four times now, that’s enough."