Netanyahu: Israel will defeat Hamas, bring back hostages

The goal of the intensified military operation in Gaza announced by Israel on Sunday is twofold: defeating Hamas and releasing the hostages, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“These two goals are intertwined, and we will achieve them,” the premier said on Sunday in a video posted on X.

Netanyahu further stated that the Israel Defense Forces was “pounding” Yemen’s Houthi rebels with “great force,” noting that the campaign against the Houthi threat is “not over.”

He emphasized that Iran is the one responsible for backing and pushing the Houthis in their hostilities toward the Jewish state.

“We are looking at Iran as well,” Netanyahu stressed.

The Israeli leader went on to disclose that the Security Cabinet had approved on Sunday the establishment of a new border fence along Israel’s eastern border with Jordan—from the southernmost point of the Golan Heights in the north to the Red Sea in the south.

The fence will emulate the one on Israel’s southern border with Egypt, Netanyahu said, which had successfully blocked the infiltration of “a million illegal immigrants from Africa.”

Netanyahu stressed that the fence would not halt “massive invasions,” but is an effective tool against illegal immigration and lone terrorists.

He further said that Jerusalem was doing “more things” to prevent large-scale attacks from the east, but did not go into detail.

Lastly, the prime minister commended Israeli singer Yuval Raphael for winning second place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Grand Final in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday night.

“After fighting for her life and defeating Hamas,” Netanyahu said, “she stood on that tower and said ‘Am Yisrael Chai’ [The people of Israel live]—and received the [warm] embrace of the European public ... I was moved like every [Israeli] was moved.”

Raphael, 24, who survived the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival, took the Eurovision stage under heightened political tension, with boos from some in the audience protesting Israel’s participation, as well as pro-Palestinian protests outside.

Netanyahu on Sunday also referenced the Mossad’s retrieval of the official Syrian archive of the late Israeli spy Eli Cohen.

“We’ve worked on this Mossad operation for a long time. The archive was brought from Damascus to Israel; and I presented it to Cohen’s spouse, Nadia Cohen. It was incredibly moving. Seeing the photographs, the [hand-written] letters; everything arrived intact to the State of Israel. And the day that we will bring [the remains of] Eli home will come,” Netanyahu pledged.