The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Nentanyahustated this Sunday that the most intense phase of the military offensive against the Gaza Strip “will soon come to an end,” but the war as such will not end until Hamas controls the Palestinian enclave. “Phase three of the war is about to end. It will be very soon,” he stated in an interview with ‘Canal 14’ television, the first he has granted since the attacks of October 7.

Once this phase is completed, he indicated, Israel will be able to send more forces to the north, to the border with Lebanonto face Hezbollah. “We are going to do it. Firstly and most importantly for defensive reasons and secondly so that the evacuees can return to their homes,” she said. To this end, he has positioned himself in favor of a diplomatic agreement, but has warned that if it is not achieved he will resort to “other means.” Any deal must include “the physical distancing of Hezbollah from the border,” she said.

Furthermore, Netanyahu has highlighted the death on Saturday in an Israeli attack of who he described as ‘number 4’ of Hamas, Raad Saad. “Yesterday we may have killed ‘number 4’ of Hamas. We are giving them hard“, he highlighted.

Willing to a “partial agreement”, but not to “stop the war”

Netanyahu has expressed his willingness to close an agreement that allows the return of the hostages, but has asserted that he is not “willing to an agreement that leaves Hamas intact.” Thus, he has said to be “prepared for a partial agreement” to achieve the return of some of the hostages who remain kidnapped in Gaza, but has insisted that it will not end the war until the Islamist group is destroyed. “We are obliged to continue fighting after a pause to achieve our goal of destroying Hamas,” he defended.

Shortly after its broadcast, the Prime Minister’s Office sent a statement clarifying that “It is Hamas who opposes the agreementnot Israel”, in the face of criticism against Netanyahu for his statements, in which the Israeli leader is reproached for his intention to sustain the conflict instead of giving in to achieve the truce. “The prime minister has made it clear that we will not abandon Gaza until the return of the 120 hostages, alive and dead,” the statement states.

In response, the Islamist group has insisted that any agreement must include “a clear affirmation of permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal of the Gaza Strip” as an “inevitable necessity to block Netanyahu’s attempts to evade, deceive and perpetuate aggression.” The Islamist organization assures that Netanyahu’s statements “are a clear confirmation of his rejection” of the resolution of the UN Security Council and the president’s proposals Joe Biden.

Gaza after the war

On the future of Gaza, Netanyahu rules out the Palestinian Authority regaining political control of the enclave instead of Hamas. Thus, he has revealed that the Army proposed to him five months ago to hand over control to the Gazan clans, but then it was ruled out. Now there is a new proposal which he did not want to make public. In any case, he has ruled out returning to the colonies as defended by the Israeli extreme right, because “it would not be realistic” and would also not serve the objectives.

After the interview, however, the Minister of National Security, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, once again defended Jewish settlements as a future solution for the Strip. “Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and encouraging voluntary emigration of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip is realistic and the path towards the concept of absolute victory. Just as we settled in Israel after 1967, we will be able to do so again in the Gaza Strip after 2024,” he argued.

Internal political conflict

On the other hand, he has reproached Benny Gantz his departure from war cabinet: “Gantz and Eisenkot have done something that should not be done. They have left the government during a war with seven fronts. It is something that should not be done“, he criticized, while defending that he has the support of the people. “We are in a democracy,” he stressed.

Also at the political level, Netanyahu has commented on the refusal of some reservists to join the ranks in protest of the judicial reform prior to the October 7 attack. The president has described this gesture as a “disaster”, for which he has blamed “the left”. “I already said then that they were endangering Israel,” he said. Thus, he considers that these protests were “an important factor” related to the Hamas attacks, “but not the main factor.”

Thus, he has defended the continuity of his right-wing and far-right government because the alternative is “a left-wing coalition” that, according to him, “would create a Palestinian State.” On the other hand, the opposition leader, the centrist Yair Lapid, has questioned Netanyahu’s ability to govern after his statements: “I recommend watching Netanyahu’s interview on Channel 14. Judge for yourselves if he is capable of leading a country in crisis“, he stated.