Netanyahu announces that the military offensive in Gaza will last "many more months"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned this Saturday that the military offensive on the Gaza Strip will last “many more months.”

“My position is clear. “We are going to continue fighting until Hamas is eliminated and all our hostages are freed,” Netanyahu said in an appearance reported by the newspaper 'Yedioth Aharonoth'.

“As Prime Minister, I reject international pressure for a cessation of fighting.. “I value the American support demonstrated with the government's approval of additional military supplies for the Israel Defense Forces,” he said, referring to the announcement of 147.5 billion dollars (about 133.4 billion euros) in arms sales to Israel without going through the American Congress.

Netanyahu has also highlighted that “so far we have neutralized 8,000 terrorists”. “We are devastating Hamas' capabilities, attacking its commanders, and we are also going to eliminate Hamas leaders,” he warned.

As for the northern front, on the border with Lebanon, “we are dealing Hezbollah serious blows”. “We have approved operational plans to continue the war and if Hezbollah escalates, there will be unprecedented consequences, and so will Iran.”

“Iran is the engine behind the axis of evil and aggression against us on several fronts. Not just against Israel, but against the entire free world. “We are actively countering Iran everywhere and in every way and I am not going to go into details,” he noted.

For his part, the Israeli Finance Minister, the far-right Bezalel Smotrich, has indicated that the future of Gaza will not be addressed until the war ends, in reference to the pressure to recover the Israeli colonies in the Gaza Strip, dismantled in 2005. .

Israeli media speculate, citing government sources, that Netanyahu does not want to address the future of Gaza to avoid a crisis within the current coalition government.