Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, spoke on Tuesday at the municipal war room in the city of Sderot.
"I asked to come here today especially because we are at a critical crossroads. In recent days I have been hearing talk of the end of the 'intense fighting phase' and reading [journalist] Ronen Bergman talking again about some kind of deal and wording games between the mediators and Hamas," Smotrich said.
"Our heroic combatants and field commanders are doing an outstanding job, here on the other side of the fence in Gaza, and are bringing about great achievements, thank God. We are dismantling Hamas, killing more and more terrorists, destroying weapons and underground infrastructure and finally thoroughly dealing with the terrorist monster that has been built under our noses. I tell you with responsibility, we see more and more signs of a break in Hamas, more and more elements and commanders in Hamas feel that they are nearing the end," he added.
He stated that "I will not be surprised if suddenly, after months of refusal, [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar will respond positively to the offer he received for a deal because he is in a panic and he understands that we are close to victory and will want to save himself and the Hamas rule in Gaza, in order to restore his power and re-integrate into the Iranian conventional extermination plan in the next round. This is not the time to take the foot off the gas pedal. The opposite is true. This is the time to bring in more troops and increase the military pressure."
Minister Smotrich stated that "after we have come all the way here, and paid all the heavy prices - in the fallen soldiers, the prices that were paid and are paid by the reservists and their heroic families, the damage to the economy, the heroic residents here in Sderot and in the towns near the Gaza border and the residents of the north who were, and some of whom are still, away from home for months in difficult conditions, after the expensive price we paid at the beginning of this war in the Simchat Torah massacre, it would simply be absurd if after all this we stop just before the end, if we allow Hamas and Sinwar to survive and put the war efforts and the heavy prices down the drain."
"That is why I don't understand the erroneous statements by all kinds of parties about an 'announcement' of the end of the 'intense fighting phase', I don't understand the eagerness of IDF officials to reach a ceasefire. I don't understand the briefings and the talk in the foreign media about 'critical moments' and the increasing pressure for a deal. Who exactly are these statements meant to reassure?! What do they serve? These are indeed critical moments, critical moments for Sinwar and in any case for the security of the residents here and the security of the entire State of Israel."
"Sinwar is not impressed by statements. I am not going into military language and will not interfere with the army in how it defines stages or periods. But in essence it must be clear that we are not stopping, not even for one day. We continue the military pressure with all our might, increasing the pressure and not alleviating it. Once and for all to complete the task and destroy Hamas, and not like we did in all the previous rounds where we stopped in the middle because of international political pressure and allowed it to recover again and again. This time until the end of Hamas and the return of the hostages," stressed the Minister of Finance.
"History will not forgive those who stop at this point and bring down the great spirit of this nation that was revealed during the long months of war. History will not forgive those who do not listen to the parents who lost their sons who fought in battle and stand over the open grave again and again with tears of pain, but also with great strength, and demand that we continue until victory. Mr. Prime Minister, at this time you must order the IDF commanders to win and wipe the memory of Hamas from the face of the earth. Until the end without stopping for a moment," he concluded.
Smotrich's remarks (Hebrew video):