From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, June 19, 2024
IDF spokesman says Hamas can’t be destroyed, drawing response from Netanyahu
IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari has cast the goal of eradicating the Hamas terror group as unattainable, drawing a response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Hamas is an idea. Those who think it can be made to disappear are wrong,” Hagari tells Channel 13 news in an interview, adding that anyone promising this is “misleading the public.”
“If the government doesn’t find an alternative — it will remain” in Gaza, he argues.
In response, Netanyahu’s office says in a statement that his security cabinet “has defined as one of the war goals the destruction of Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.”
“The IDF is of course committed to this,” the statement adds.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit subsequently issues a statement saying the military is committed to the government’s stated war goals, including destroying Hamas’s governing and military abilities, adding that Hagari talked in the interview about “eradicating Hamas as an ideology and an idea.”
“Any claim otherwise is taking the remarks out of context,” it adds.
The Times of Israel Community.