Benjamin Netanyahu
On Sunday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli military’s fierce fighting against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah is nearly ended.
In an interview with the media, Netanyahu said, “The intense phase of fierce fighting against Hamas is about to end”.
“It doesn’t mean that the war is about to end, but the war in its intense phase is about to end in Rafah”, Netanyahu continued.
Netanyahu went on to say, “After the end of the intense phase, we will be able to redeploy some forces to the north, and we will do that. Primarily for defensive purposes but also to bring the (displaced) residents back home”.
Netanyahu said he would not agree to any deal that stipulates an end to the war in Gaza, but he was open to a partial deal that would permit the repatriation of some hostages still held in Gaza, if not all.
“The goal is to return the kidnapped and uproot the Hamas regime in Gaza”, Netanyahu explained.
United States officials have questioned Israel’s intention of entirely eliminating Hamas, and on Wednesday, Israel’s top army spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said, “To say that we are going to make Hamas disappear is to throw sand in people’s eyes”.
Hagari went on to say, “Hamas is an ideology and we cannot eliminate an ideology”.
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