From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Meeting with elite Artillery Corps soldiers, Netanyahu vows ‘no pressure’ can stop Israel from achieving goals
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the IDF Artillery Corps’ elite Sky Riders Unit, also known by its Hebrew acronym Rochash during a visit to the Zikim military base, his office says.
During his visit, Netanyahu watched a display showcasing the unit’s capabilities and tested out the surveillance tools over the Gaza Strip, his office says.
He also received a summary of the unit’s operations and achievements since the start of the war against Hamas.
Speaking to the soldiers of the mixed-gender elite unit, the prime minister vowed that Israel will continue to war against Hamas in Gaza until all its goals are achieved, including the destruction of the terror group and the release of the hostages.
“There is a lot of pressure on Israel, at home and abroad, to end the war before we achieve all of its goals, including [agreeing to] a deal to release the hostages at any cost,” Netanyahu’s office quotes him as saying.
“We really want to achieve an additional release, and we are also willing to go a long way, but we are not ready to pay any price, and certainly not to pay the delusional price that Hamas demands from us, which would mean defeat for the state of Israel.”
He told the soldiers that Israel is “committed to continuing the war until we achieve all of the goals, meaning the elimination of Hamas, the release of all the hostages and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
“There is no pressure, no pressure that can change that,” the prime minister added.
