Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday night that Jerusalem would only agree to end the war on Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a deal freeing all remaining hostages.
“We realized that they were basically misleading us and, in any case, would keep many hostages in their hands, both alive and dead,” the premier told i24News regarding the negotiations for a partial deal.
“We want them all, I want them all, both the living and the dead,” stated Netanyahu, adding: “I want to bring them all back as part of ending the war, but under the conditions of ending the war on our terms.
“As part of the discussion on our terms—the release of all the hostages, both the living and the dead—we are at the stage of a single deal; there is no going back,” he said.
While Iran’s plan for the destruction of Israel is “off the table,” the Jewish state still needs to eradicate Hamas and Yemen’s Houthis to fully defeat Tehran’s terrorist proxies, the prime minister declared last month.
In the Gaza Strip, the military has “a job to finish,” he said on July 28. “The eradication of Hamas and the return of our hostages. We are not giving up on that even for a minute. Those two goals are intertwined.”
Netanyahu has defined the goals for the war in Gaza as bringing back all 50 hostages held by Palestinian terrorists, dismantling the Strip’s terror and governing infrastructure, and eliminating future threats emanating from the area.
Asked by i24News on Tuesday if Iran’s nuclear program was destroyed during the 12-day war with the Islamic Republic, Netanyahu told the outlet: “It was pushed back by several good years, I can say that.”
Tehran is “not in a state where they are able to advance the plans they intended to promote,” he said. “They have 400 kilograms of enriched uranium. We knew in advance that uranium would not be damaged, though that alone is not sufficient to produce nuclear bombs.
“We are keeping a very close watch on it together with our American friends,” he stated. “We are constantly prepared for the possibility of Iranian action; above all attempts to rebuild its nuclear program.”
Netanyahu told i24News that “the public has decided that, for now, I can bring security, stability, and peace,” stressing that his political fate could only be decided in a future election. “When I think I have done all the things I need to do, I still have many tasks, [so] I will continue,” he said.
The premier also told the broadcaster that he fears for his personal safety amid “incitement of levels that have never been seen before here.”
