PM: There’s ‘still a way to go before victory’; when there’s a good hostage deal, cabinet will approve it

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, still delivering prepared remarks, tells the families of the hostages: “Beloved families of the hostages, I know how much you are suffering from the uncertainty. But … we are not giving up on anyone. I am not giving up on anyone. We will do everything to bring back everyone. If we stick by these principles we will get an agreement in which we get back our hostages, the living, and the deceased, and we will be able to continue the war until victory.”

He also tells residents of the north that he admires their resilience, and that “one way or another” they will be able to return home in full security “that will last not a few days or months, but for generations.”

There’s still “a way to go before victory,” he says. “Days of fighting and difficulty” still lie ahead. “But with God’s help, we will win,” he says.

Taking questions, Netanyahu denies that his last press conference was over 100 days ago, recalling that he took questions from military reporters more recently.

He says Israel’s intelligence clearly indicated that there were no hostages in the areas of the strike today.

“Do you know why there is progress [in the hostage negotiations]?” he asks.

“For months there was no progress because the military pressure was not strong enough. And I thought that, for a hostage deal and for the victory over Hamas, we have to go into Rafah.

“There was massive international pressure not to go into Rafah. There was American pressure not to go into Rafah. There was a reduction in the supply of weapons, to put it mildly. And I said, my friend President Biden, we have no choice. We will go into Rafah. I will go into Rafah. Because if we leave Hamas there, we won’t get either the hostages or beat Hamas. And if Hamas will return and take control over all of Gaza, then what will we have achieved? Another round of fighting with hundreds of dead.”

He continues: “And we entered Rafah, we conquered the Philadelphi corridor, we conquered the Rafah crossing, we killed 900 terrorists, we killed in other sectors hundreds of terrorists of the Strip, and all of a sudden things begin to move.”

Hamas, he says, “wanted that, already in the first phase of the proposal, we would promise that the war would end in the second phase — apart from a certain discussion on the ratio of security prisoners and hostages. And I said: No.”

He adds: “The combination of the military pressure – which came because of my insistence to go in [to Rafah] — and believe me there were differences of opinion if to go in against the Americans; [people said] we are dependent on the Americans, these were legitimate arguments, I thought differently.

“We went in, and there were people who said we don’t need to insist on the end of the war, all of a sudden they are changing [their position].

“So I say the opposite: If there is any progress, if there are changes in the position, it is because of the strong military pressure and the firm insistence on our conditions.”

Therefore, he says, he rejects the claims that he is delaying or preventing a deal, or hardening his stance. “It’s the absolute opposite.”

When there is a good deal, he says, he will bring it for cabinet approval “and it will pass.”

If Israel does not insist on the conditions he has set out, the deaths of hundreds of soldiers in the war will have been in vain.