‘We will end the war only after we have achieved all our goals’: Benjamin Netanyahu denies ceasefire due to troops’ fatigue

ANDThe Israeli army denied on Tuesday that it is advocating a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, due to the fatigue of the troops and the prolongation of the war, in response to a report published Tuesday by the American newspaper The New York Times.

“We are determined to continue fighting to achieve the war goals of destroying Hamas’ military and government capabilities, the return of the hostages and the safe return of residents of the north and south to their homes,” the army wrote on its official account on the social network X following this article.

The Israeli military leadership believes the best way to free the remaining hostages is with a permanent ceasefire in the enclave, so that it can rest easy in the event of an all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, The New York Times reported, citing six current and former security officials.

“I don’t know who these anonymous sources are, but I am here to make it unequivocally clear: that will not happen. We will end the war only after we have achieved all our goals, the elimination of Hamas and the release of all our hostages,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to the article.

The Prime Minister explained that the country’s political and military leadership jointly defined these objectives and stressed that the Army has “all the means to achieve them.”

“We do not succumb to the spirits of defeatism, either at The New York Times or anywhere else. We are imbued with the spirit of victory,” he stressed.

The article does not specify whether this pressure has had any effect on the position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insists on continuing the fighting until achieving “a total victory.”

“We have made significant progress in the fighting and will continue to fight Hamas in all parts of the Strip, along with preparing for the war in the north,” the army added in its X message.

An end to hostilities in Gaza could open the door to an end to the crossfire in the north of the country with the pro-Iranian militia, which justifies its attacks in solidarity with the Palestinian people because of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

In just under a week, the war in Gaza will be nine months old, which has already left 322 soldiers and at least 1,500 have been injured since the start of the ground operation. In total, there are more than 620, including the Hamas attack on October 7.

The truth is that skepticism among the families of the soldiers and hostages, who remain in Gaza, about the success of this offensive is growing because, after almost nine months, They see the rescue of their loved ones as unlikely, as well as the “total elimination” of the Palestinian militias who continue to regroup in areas where troops have withdrawn.

The most extreme sectors of Netanyahu’s coalition government are the ones that are most insistent on him continuing this war that has already left more than 37,900 Gazans dead and are now also asking him to launch a large-scale offensive against Lebanon.