Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured this Saturday that he will not allow the Palestinian Authority, which governs small areas of the occupied West Bank, to control the Gaza Strip when Israeli troops eliminate the Islamist group Hamas.
“I will not make the mistake of allowing the Palestinian Authority to rule in Gaza, it would be the same” as Hamas, Netanyahu declared in a televised press conference, in which he defended “a new vision, a change” in the Palestinian enclave. , which includes “Israeli security and control.”
The United States, Israel’s main ally, defended the unification of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under the rule of the Palestinian Authority once the war ended, but Netanyahu affirmed that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) have in common “the ideology that denies the existence of Israel.
The war that Israel has been waging against Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7 will continue until “all its objectives are met,” especially the destruction of the Palestinian Islamist movement, stressed the head of the Israeli Government.
“We cannot achieve these objectives without continuing operations on the ground,” which “until now have been essential to achieving the results,” he added.
This was his first press conference since the end, on Friday morning, of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas – for the release of Palestinian hostages and prisoners in Israeli prisons and for the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Gaza – and the resumption of military operations, especially bombings, in the Palestinian enclave.
On October 7, Hamas fighters – in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007 and classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel – carried out an attack on Israeli territory of unprecedented proportions since the creation of the State of Israel, in 1948, caused more than 1,200 deaths, mostly civilians, five thousand wounded and around 240 hostages.
In retaliation, Israel declared a war to “eradicate” Hamas, which began with cuts of food, water, electricity and fuel in the Gaza Strip and daily bombings, followed by a ground offensive in the north of that territory, now under control. . attack, advance south.
The war between Israel and Hamas, which continues to threaten to spread throughout the Middle East region, has so far left more than 15,200 people dead in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, and more than 40,000 injured, according to the most recent report from local authorities and 1.7 million displaced people, according to the UN, plunging the poor Palestinian enclave into a serious humanitarian crisis.
According to Netanyahu, the only way to achieve the goal of eliminating Hamas is through a ground invasion of the enclave, which is why he stressed that the offensive will continue “until the end.”
“We will do everything possible to bring [os reféns] home, to complete the mission, but also to destroy Hamas and ensure that Hamas is never again a threat to us and that no group threatens Israel from Gaza,” he said.
“I say it clearly and simply: we will continue the war until we achieve all our objectives (…). There is no way to achieve these objectives except by winning, and there is no way to win except through a ground invasion,” he said.
Netanyahu indicated that, so far, 110 hostages have been freed, including 86 Israeli civilians, children, women and the elderly.
“I had a lot of difficulty making the decision, wondering how to negotiate with the demon that murders, kidnaps and rapes. However, at that precise moment, I knew that we could save dozens of lives. We have recovered many, but the mission is not yet finished.” , I note.
Regarding the risk of the conflict expanding to the entire Middle East, the Israeli prime minister today reiterated threats to Lebanon, stating that the country will be “destroyed” if the Shiite militia Hezbollah goes to war with Israel.
“We will restore security in the north and south. If Hezbollah makes the mistake of entering into a full-scale war, it will have destroyed Lebanon with its own hands,” Netanyahu said in his televised speech.
“We are operating in the north against all Hezbollah initiatives against us. We are eliminating terrorist cells, moving them away from the border and destroying their ammunition. We will continue with strong deterrence in the north and total victory in the south,” he stressed. .
Source: TSF
