Netanyahu: Strike on Deif was possible because we rebuffed pressure for premature end to war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at his press conference, says that today’s opportunity and others to act against terrorists is possible due to excellent intelligence and operational work, and due to another reason… : Because we rejected pressure at home and abroad to finish the war before achieving all its aims.”

He continues: At the beginning of the war I set a principle: The Hamas murderers are dead men. From the first to the last. We will bring them to justice. Eliminating Hamas leaders advances the achievement of all our goals: Eliminating Hamas, freeing our hostages, removing the [potential future] threat of Gaza from Israel, and it also advances our goals in relation to other fronts. It sends a message of deterrence to all of Iran’s proxies and to Iran itself.

He says Israel has been facing an existential threat since October 7 — not only the Iranian nuclear threat — but Tehran’s effort to build a stranglehold surrounding Israel.

“Iran is threatening to strangle us with a choking ring of terror and missile fire from Iran, Hezbollah, Houthis, the militias in Syria and Iraq, and other fronts,” he says.

“Victory over Hamas is the first and critical condition for victory over Iran’s entire axis, the entire axis of evil.