Netanyahu urges military pressure for 'total victory' in Gaza and not succumbing to Hamas

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuurged this Wednesday, February 7, to continue exercising “military pressure” over Gaza until we achieve “an absolute victory” that includes the release of the hostages, without accepting Hamas' demands for a possible truce pact.

“Continuing with military pressure is a necessary condition to free the hostages, succumbing to Hamas will only lead to another massacre,” Netanyahu said in a press conference, where he added that the Israeli Army “must methodically destroy Hamas” until it achieves the Strip “does not represent any threat to Israel.”

(In context: The US diplomat pressures Israel for a truce in Gaza)

With his statements, the head of Government publicly rejected the conditions demanded by Hamas to release more than a hundred Israeli hostages who are still in the Strip. The Islamist group calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the end of the offensive in the enclave as a framework for the release of captives, a demand that Israel does not accept and which represents a major obstacle to the truce.

“Only an absolute victory will give security to Israel,” insisted Netanyahu, who assured that Israeli forces continue to act to free the hostages, while there is still a lot of pressure from their relatives to reach an agreement that involves their release.

He also reiterated that Israel “is on the path to victory” in the Strip, and stressed that the war will end “in a matter of months” amid the advances of Israeli troops in their ground offensive on Gaza.

(Also: At least 9 dead and 13 injured in the Israeli attack on central Syria)

As he stressed, The Army has already achieved “unprecedented achievements”while “continuing to kill terrorists”, destroying command centers, military infrastructure or “the tunnels where Hamas hides.”

At the same time, he insisted that after defeating the Islamist group, Israel will maintain control over Gaza and will seek to make it “demilitarized forever.”

“We will continue until the end”, he remarked, while there is speculation that Israeli troops now intend to direct operations to the southern end of the enclave, Rafah. More than a million civilians are crowded into this city and it is on the border with Egypt, and if taken it would ensure Israel's land control of the entire Strip.

After its attack on Israel on October 7, which caused some 1,200 deaths, the Israeli offensive on the enclave has left more than 27,700 Palestinians dead in four months, a landscape of severe destruction in the Strip and an extreme humanitarian crisis.

(Read: Qatar says it has received a 'positive' response from Hamas regarding hostage agreement)

EFE