Tel Aviv [Israel], February 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that Israeli forces will soon achieve "total victory" in the war against Hamas once they begin a major ground offensive in the southern end of the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu's government has faced international pressure to cancel the operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip because about 1.4 million civilians are sheltering in the city, after being pushed out. other areas of Palestine due to Israeli bombardments .
Prime Minister Netanyahu explained that civilians will be evacuated to previously cleared areas north of Rafah before the Israeli army attacks Hamas's last stronghold in Gaza.
Speaking in an interview with CBS News on February 25, Mr. Netanyahu said the attack in Rafah would be delayed for a short time if a temporary ceasefire agreement was negotiated with Hamas, but that the operation would happen sooner or later. go out.
"If we didn't have a deal, we would still do it. It has to be done because outright victory is our aim and complete victory is within reach. Not in a few months, but is a few weeks from now, when we begin the operation," Mr. Netanyahu declared.
The leader affirmed that victory cannot be achieved until Hamas is eliminated. "Once we start the Rafah operation, the period of intense fighting is weeks away from ending," Prime Minister Netanyahu added.
In addition, Netanyahu said the Israeli army had destroyed 18 of the 24 Hamas battalions in Gaza and four of the surviving units were concentrated in Rafah, near the enclave's border with Egypt.
Mr. Netanyahu affirmed that Israeli forces will not force Palestinian civilians into Egypt, which would jeopardize diplomatic relations with Cairo. Asked about the US demand for a "credible" plan to evacuate displaced Gazans from Rafah, he said: "We don't need to be pushed. We are on the same page with the US on this problem because that's how we do it."
The conflict began when Hamas gunmen launched surprise attacks on southern Israeli villages on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,100 people and sending hundreds of hostages back to the Gaza Strip . Mr. Netanyahu said that the conflict can only end when Israel achieves three main goals: eliminating Hamas, freeing the hostages and ensuring that Gaza will never pose a threat to Israel again.
Negotiations on a ceasefire - which would allow the exchange of Hamas hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons - began on February 23 in Paris. Mr Netanyahu said a deal would only be possible if Hamas dropped its "crazy demands". According to Gaza's local health authority, nearly 30,000 people have died in this strip of land since the fighting began.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
