Netanyahu said to tell cabinet he wants to defeat Hamas, current methods failed to free hostages

Stav Levaton is a military reporter for The Times of Israel

As Israel’s security cabinet meets to weigh the possibility of a full-scale military occupation of the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells those in attendance that he has no intention of “perpetuating Hamas,” but, rather, of “defeating it,” Channel 12 reports.

“The current method has not resulted in the release of the hostages, and we will not continue like this,” he adds.

Meanwhile, senior members of Israel’s negotiating team tell Channel 12 that Hamas is under increasing pressure from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey to return to the ceasefire negotiation table — possibly within the coming week. That development, they say, could influence the security cabinet’s decision-making process.

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