Netanyahu says war will continue even if ceasefire agreement is reached with Hamas | News on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The Israeli Prime Minister reiterated that he would not agree to any agreement that would end the eight-month war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that he is open to a “partial agreement” that would allow the return of some, but not all, prisoners still held in Gaza.

However, he reiterated that he would not agree to any agreement that would end Israel’s war on Gaza, despite previous claims by the United States that an Israeli proposal was a way to end the offensive.

“The goal is to bring back the abductees and overthrow the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip,” he said on Sunday in an interview with Israeli media channel Channel 14.

Tens of thousands of Israelis repeatedly protested against Netanyahu and his government, demanding early elections and an agreement on the return of prisoners.

Last month, US President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire proposal that would see a six-week truce and the release of some Israeli prisoners in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, an exchange that would then allow negotiations on a permanent ceasefire.

While US officials insisted that the proposal was written by Israel, several Israeli politicians, including Netanyahu, assured that they would fight until Hamas was destroyed and refused to fully support the proposal publicly.

Netanyahu also told Channel 14 that Israel’s “intense” military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah was almost over.

“The intense phase of the fighting against Hamas is coming to an end,” he said. “This does not mean that the war is coming to an end, but the war in Rafah in its intense phase is coming to an end.”

“Civil Administration”

In his first interview with an Israeli news channel since the start of the Gaza war, Netanyahu again rejected the idea that the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank could rule the Gaza Strip instead of Hamas.

“We also want to create a civil administration, if possible with local Palestinians and perhaps with external support from countries in the region, to manage humanitarian supplies and later also civil affairs in the Gaza Strip,” he said.

“Ultimately, two things have to happen: we need a continued demilitarization of the (Israeli military) and the establishment of a civilian administration.”

The Gaza Strip has been at war for more than eight months, since a Hamas-led attack on Israel left 1,139 people dead and dozens still being held captive in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 37,598 people have been killed in the Israeli military offensive against Gaza since then.

Troops march towards Lebanon

Netanyahu said troops would soon be stationed on the northern border with Lebanon, but for “defensive purposes.”

“After the intensive phase is over, we will have the opportunity to move part of the forces north. And we will do that. First and foremost for defense reasons. And secondly, to bring our (evacuated) residents home,” Netanyahu told Channel 14.

“If we can, we will do it diplomatically. If not, we will do it differently. But we will bring (the residents) home,” he said.

Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced from northern Israel and southern Lebanon, where there have been almost daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters since the start of the Gaza war.