At the opening of the cabinet meeting on Sunday noon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the end of the ground maneuver in the Gaza Strip and marked six months since the outbreak of the war.
"Today we mark six months since the outbreak of the war," Netanyahu said. "We have great achievements: we have eliminated 19 out of 24 of the Hamas battalions, including senior commanders. We have killed, wounded or captured a significant number of Hamas terrorists. We cleansed the Shifa hospital as well as many other terrorist headquarters. We destroyed rocket manufacturing plants, war rooms, ammunition caches and we continue to systematically destroy the Hamas underground. We are one step away from victory. But the price that we have had to pay is painful and heartbreaking."
Netanyahu later referred to the incident in Khan Yunis and said that "in the last day, four of our heroic soldiers fell in Khan Yunis: Captain Ido Baruch, Sergeant Amitai Even Shoshan, Sergeant Reef Harush and Sergeant Ilai Zair. On behalf of the citizens of Israel, I send my heartfelt condolences to their families and to all the families who lost loved ones in this difficult war.”
"On October 7, Hamas launched a murderous attack against the State of Israel and its citizens. We will never forget the terrible crimes committed by the Hamas monsters, which is still holding 133 of our abducted brothers and sisters. To date, we have returned 123 of the hostages, and we are committed to bringing them all home."
"I made it clear to the international community that there will be no ceasefire without the return of hostages. It simply will not happen. This is the policy of the Israeli government, and I welcome the fact that the Biden administration also made it clear yesterday that this is still its position."
Regarding the talks about the hostage deal, he said: "Israel is not the one preventing a deal. Hamas is preventing a deal. Its extreme demands are aimed at ending the war and leaving the situation as is, to ensure its survival, its rehabilitation, its ability to endanger our citizens and our soldiers. Surrendering to Hamas' demands will allow the terrorist organization to repeat the crimes of October 7th again and again, as they have promised to do."
"Hamas hopes that the pressure from both outside and inside will make Israel surrender to these extreme demands. This will not happen. Israel is ready for a deal. Israel is not ready to surrender. Instead of international pressure being directed at Israel, which only causes Hamas to harden its positions, the pressure of the international community should be directed against Hamas. This will promote the release of the hostages."
"Citizens of Israel, there is no war that is more justified than this war, and we are determined to end it with a complete victory, to bring all our hostages home, to totally eliminate Hamas in the entire Gaza Strip, including in Rafah, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel."
"This war has shown the world what Israel always knew – that Iran is the one behind the attack against us, through its proxies. And there are many attacks. Since October 7th we have been attacked on many fronts by Iran's proxies – Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, militias in Iraq and in Syria, and others as well."
Later Netanyahu added: "Anyone who hurts us or plans to hurt us – we will hurt them. We put this principle into practice, all the time and in the last few days. Near, far, in the areas around us, in the areas far from us. Israel is prepared – to defend and to attack – any attempt to harm us - from any place."
Our war is at its peak. In the last 24 hours, four of our heroic soldiers fell in Khan Yunis. Our forces recovered the body of the late Elad Katzir who was murdered by Hamas. One of our unmanned aircraft was shot down in Lebanon and our forces responded deep in the country; in the Bekaa valley, Baalbek, 60 kilometers, 100 kilometers and even more. Just a little while ago terrorists attacked a bus in Samaria. Iran, Hezbollah and other agents are intensifying the threats against Israel."
"At this moment, in the midst of the war, we need to unite to refute the attacks against us. This is the time for unity. But exactly now, an extreme and violent minority is trying to drag the country into divide. There is nothing our enemies want more. They wish for internal division and gratuitous hatred to stop us only a moment before our victory".
Netanyahu concluded: "I said at the cabinet meeting and I repeat in the government as well: countries rise in unity and fall in division. Make no mistake about our enemies – the vast majority of the nation are united in the need to continue fighting until victory. The majority of the people, and I am among them, condemns every manifestation of violence within us – riots and violations of the law, trampling over demonstrators or attacking policemen, wild incitement and murderous violence on social media. We will stand united, we will overcome our enemies, eliminate Hamas, free our hostages, and with God's help, we will bring total victory."