Israel’s control over the Philadelphi Route and the Rafah Border Crossing is “critical” for the next stage of the war on Hamas, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to IDF troops in the city of Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border.
Netanyahu has promised that Israel will continue to control Gaza’s border with Egypt even after a hostage deal with Hamas, something the terror group says it will not accept.
“At the same time, the military pressure [IDF forces] are exerting right here, in Hamas’s throat, helps us to stand firm on our just demands, helps us promote the hostage deal — including our demand to release a maximum number of hostages in the first stage of the plan.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travels to Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border, to visit IDF troops, July 18, 2024. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
This pressure, says Netanyahu “does not delay a deal. It advances it.”
Netanyahu says he will present Israel’s heroism and the just nature of the war it is fighting in his speech to Congress next week.
He again pledges that Israel will achieve “complete victory.”
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 18, 2024
