The IDF will wage war against Hamas until it is destroyed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Wednesday.
“We are continuing the war until the end. It will continue until Hamas is eliminated—until victory,” he said in a video statement.
“Those who think we will stop are disconnected from reality. We will not stop fighting until we achieve all our goals: the destruction of Hamas, the return of our hostages and the removal of the threat from Gaza.
“We are attacking Hamas with fire—hellish fire. Everywhere, including today,” continued the premier.
“We are also targeting their facilitators near and far. Every Hamas terrorist, from the first to the last, has only two options: surrender or die.”
Netanyahu spoke amid reports of renewed negotiations over a possible second hostages-for-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Hamas still holds 129 captives. One hundred ten have been released, most of them in an earlier deal that Hamas violated on Nov. 28.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu told the families of abductees, “We are committed, and I am personally committed, to the release of all of the hostages. Rescuing them is the highest mission.
“Just now I twice sent the director of the Mossad to Europe to advance a process for the release of our hostages. I will spare no effort on the matter and the demand is to bring them all,” he said.
Also on Tuesday, while briefing ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps from 80 countries, President Isaac Herzog said, “Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages.”
Israeli ground, air and naval forces struck more than 300 targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, causing heavy Hamas casualties and destroying terrorist infrastructure, the Israel Defense Forces reported on Wednesday morning.
