Netanyahu says war will continue ‘until victory, even if it takes time’; toughens terms

Amid talks on a hostage-for-ceasefire deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows Israel will continue the war against Hamas “until we achieve all its objectives.”
“We are determined to complete the victory,” he says at a graduation ceremony of the IDF’s officers school.
Netanyahu lists the goals of the war as “the elimination of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip, the return of all our hostages home, thwarting any future threat to Israel from Gaza,” and the return of displaced Israelis to their homes in the south and north.
“There are those who ask how long the campaign will continue,” Netanyahu goes on, months after claiming Israel was “a step away from victory” over Hamas. “I say two words: Until victory. Until victory, even if it takes time.”

He says he is committed to Israel’s “framework for freeing our hostages, but the murderers of Hamas are still sticking to demands that contradict the framework and endanger the security of Israel.
“As the prime minister of Israel, and out of national responsibility, I am not prepared to agree to these demands. That’s why I stand firmly on the four crucial principles for Israel’s security, which exist in the framework.
He then reiterates four non-negotiable conditions for a deal that he set out on Sunday, calling them “iron principles.”
However, he toughens two of those four terms. Any deal, he says, “must allow Israel to resume fighting until all the goals of the war are achieved.” It must also prevent weapons from being smuggled into Gaza from Egypt, “primarily by means of Israeli control of the Philadelphi Route and the Rafah Crossing,” he goes on, adding the references to the Philadelphi Route and Rafah a day after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had offered leeway as regards the Gaza-Egypt border corridor.
Furthermore, says Netanyahu, any deal must prevent “the return of armed terrorists, and the entry of weapons, to the north of the Strip.” And finally, he says, any deal must, “already in the first stage of the framework, maximize the number of living hostages that will be freed.” He did not specify the “first stage” when declaring this demand on Sunday.
“I’m sure that if stand behind [these terms], we’ll achieve a deal that will free our hostages and also ensure that we will continue to fight until all aims are achieved. The way to free our hostages is to continue to pressure Hamas with all our strength,” he adds.