Netanyahu to CBS: Once Israel enters Rafah, it will be weeks from ‘total victory’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that once Israel begins its military operation in Rafah, it will be “weeks away from total victory.”

Speaking to CBS News, Netanyahu says that he is meeting with staff later today to review a dual military plan that includes the evacuation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and an operation to destroy remaining Hamas battalions.

Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, has become home to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Gazans as they were moved further and further south amid Israel’s war with Hamas.

Asked about US concerns regarding civilians in Rafah, Netanyahu says he will later today review “a dual plan — a plan to evacuate and a plan to dismantle those remaining [Hamas] battalions.”

“Once we begin the Rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion. Not months,” Netanyahu says. “If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It has to be done because total victory is our goal and total victory is within reach.”

Netanyahu tells CBS that it is unclear whether a hostage deal will materialize from ongoing talks, declining to discuss specifics but saying that Hamas needs to moderate its demands.

“They’re in another planet. But if they come down to a reasonable situation, then yes we’ll have a hostage deal. I hope so,” he says.

A potential hostage deal won’t interfere with the IDF’s plans to operate in Rafah, he says, even if one does come to fruition.

“If we have a [hostage-trice] deal, it will be delayed somewhat, but it will happen,” he tells CBS. “If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It has to be done, because total victory is our goal, and total victory is within reach — not months away, weeks away, once we begin the operation.”

“We’re all working on it. We want it. I want it. Because we want to liberate the remaining hostages,” Netanyahu said.

“I can’t tell you if we’ll have it, but if Hamas goes down from its delusional claims and brings them down to Earth, we’ll have the progress that we all want.”