Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night gave a statement to the media, discussing the war and Hamas' psychological terrorism.
"Citizens of Israel, as your Prime Minister - I will not give in," Netanyahu began. "I will not give in to the murderers who carried out the worst massacre since the Holocaust."
He added that Israel is currently at "critical stage, and at this stage we need patience and determination in order to win."
"Those who are calling to end the war are echoing Hamas' psychological terrorism and putting the hostages' release farther away," he stressed. "Ending the war under terms of defeat sends a message that by kidnapping Israelis, they can bring us to our knees. That is dangerous not only to Israel but to the entire free world."
Netanyahu also confirmed that Hamas rejected the latest proposal for a ceasefire deal, which would have seen the release of about half the living hostages and many of the deceased, demanding instead to end the war.
"If we accept their conditions, it means they can defeat Israel," he warned. "If we give in to Hamas' dictates now, all of our enormous achievements that we have achieved thanks to our soldiers, our fallen, and our injured - all of those achievements will be lost."
"If we commit to not fighting, we will not be able to return to fighting in Gaza," Netanyahu stressed. "Because those agreements include the complete withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. Were our soldiers killed and injured in vain? Hamas is seeking guarantees that we will not resume fighting - they are not stupid."
"I am working to bring back our hostages without bowing to Hamas' dictates."
"Were it not for the severe blow to the Iranian axis, we would not have changed the face of the Middle East - we would have simply continued to live under existential threat," he added. "I am committed to preventing Iran from achieving nuclear weapons. I will not compromise on this, I will not give up, and we will not back down even a millimeter."
"Throughout the years, I have led processes to harm Iran's nuclear plans. Without these actions, Iran would have had nuclear weapons ten years ago."