Netanyahu says Hamas under increasing pressure: I have ‘no intention of losing this conflict’

Hamas is under growing pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says at a state ceremony commemorating IDF soldiers who fell during the 2014 Gaza war, also known as Operation Protective Edge.

“It is under increasing pressure because we are striking it,” says Netanyahu. “Eliminating its senior commanders, taking out thousands of terrorists. It is under pressure because we stand firm on our just demands in the face of all pressure.”

Speaking at Jerusalem’s Mt. Herzl military cemetery, Netanyahu says that now is the time to ramp up pressure in order to bring home all the hostages and achieve Israel’s war aims.

“We will increase the pressure on Hamas,” he pledges. “And we will bring them all back, the hostages from October 7, and Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, Avera ​​Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.”

The bodies of Shaul and Goldin were captured in the 2014 war, while Mengistu and al-Sayed entered of their own accord and are believed to be alive.

Israel, says the premier, has ” no intention of losing this conflict.”

“We will continue to repel the attempts to harm us by Iran and its proxies,” Netanyahu continues. “We will continue to strike with uncompromising strength at those who rise up to destroy us. We will reckon with all the perpetrators of the terrorist attack until the last one. We will overthrow the evil rule of Hamas. We will thwart any future threat from Gaza to the State of Israel. And we will bring all our hostages home.”