Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country will continue the war in the Gaza Strip until all objectives have been achieved, and blamed the Palestinian militant group Hamas for stalled negotiations over a temporary ceasefire.
“Capitulating to Hamas’s demands would be a terrible defeat for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said on Sunday in a video message. “It would be a great victory for Hamas, Iran and the entire axis of evil. It would exhibit terrible weakness to our friends, and to our enemies.”
If Israel were to show weakness in this way, it would only bring the next war closer “and it would push off the next peace agreement,” he warned, “because alliances are not made with the weak and the defeated. Alliances are made with the strong and the victorious.”
Brokered talks are currently taking place in Cairo involving representatives from Hamas, with hopes of securing the release of remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails. There has also been discussion of a possible ceasefire.
Netanyahu said that Israel has shown flexibility during the negotiations in Cairo, while Hamas was sticking to its “extreme positions, first and foremost the withdrawal of our forces from the Strip, the conclusion of the war and leaving Hamas intact.”