Netanyahu stresses Israel will return to fighting if truce’s 60 days don’t yield deal to end Gaza war

Israel is determined to bring all the hostages home, and is willing to end the war if Hamas agrees to Israel’s terms, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a lengthy video statement from Washington, adding that he told hostage families that last night.

“I told them that we are currently trying to achieve the release of half of the hostages, both alive and dead, in exchange for a temporary ceasefire of 60 days,” he says. “At the beginning of this ceasefire, negotiations will be entered into to end the war permanently. That is, a permanent ceasefire. In order for us to achieve this, this must be done under the minimum conditions that we have set: Hamas lays down its weapons, Gaza is demilitarized, Hamas no longer has any governmental or military capabilities. These are our basic conditions.”

Netanyahu has made those demands throughout the war that began with the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

“If this can be achieved through negotiations — that’s great. If it is not achieved through negotiations in 60 days, we will achieve it in other ways; by using force, the force of our heroic army,” he says, after speaking at a memorial service for two embassy employees who were murdered in May.

“We said the same thing about Iran, removing the nuclear threat,” he continues. “If this is achieved in 60 days of negotiations between the United States and Iran, that’s great. But if it is not achieved, it will be achieved in another way.”

Netanyahu says that he hears the questions about why the war in Gaza is taking so long.

“First of all, this is a war zone that no army in the world has faced,” he explains. “And thanks to the heroism of the fighters, thanks to the sacrifice of the fallen, thanks to the creativity, we dismantled most of Hamas’s military capabilities. But not all of them. There are still thousands of fighters there with weapons. And we want to act, again, with a combination of diplomacy and military force, and military force if diplomacy doesn’t work, to complete the mission.”

He also notes that the United States, under Joe Biden’s administration, delayed Israel’s entry into Rafah.

“We overcame that too, and now we want to complete the move,” he continues. “And I remind you — [all this has happened] during the very months, the last few months, in which we were preparing and finally carrying out the military operation that is perhaps the most brilliant in our history, among the most brilliant certainly, which the whole world is in awe of.”

“Meanwhile, we continue to advance in the Gaza Strip and rescue the hostages who have died. In the meantime, we did not let up for a moment, and even now we are not letting up on this for a moment.”

He promises Israel will return to war after a ceasefire if Hamas doesn’t give in, stressing that Israel returned to war after the two previous ceasefires.

If Israel’s goals are achieved diplomatically, that’s good, says Netanyahu. “But one way or another, they will be achieved.”

Regarding the order in which hostages will be released, Netanyahu says he would prefer to get everyone out at once, but “we are dealing with a cruel terrorist organization. Of course, we would like to rescue everyone, and from our point of view, they are all humanitarian. I want to rescue everyone in one fell swoop.”

“Here we are dealing with two stages, but the choice is not always ours. We will do everything to maximize this release in the best possible way. Not everything is in our hands.”