Netanyahu affirms that in Gaza “there will be no ceasefire”: why?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured on Sunday, April 7, that Israel is “one step away from victory” in the Gaza war and said there will be no ceasefire until Hamas releases all hostages.

“We are one step away from victory. But the price we have paid is painful and heartbreaking”, he said in a speech to the Council of Ministers to mark the six months of the war, which broke out on October 7 after an unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas militiamen. “There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. It just won’t happen“he added.

He added that Israel is not opposed to a truce agreement and blamed Hamas for “extreme demands,” whose goal is to end the war “to ensure its survival, its rehabilitation, (and) its ability to endanger” Israeli citizens and soldiers again.

“Giving in to Hamas’ demands will allow it to try to repeat the crimes of October 7 over and over again, as it promised to do,” he expressed, while calling for international pressure against Hamas and not against Israel.

A massive anti-government demonstration is scheduled for the night in Jerusalem, in which not only activists will participate but also some of the captives’ relatives, who blame Netanyahu for being more concerned about their political survival than about returning his loved ones home.

“Citizens of Israel, there is no war more just than this and we are determined to end it with a total victory”Netanyahu said, in addition to listing the three objectives he has repeated since October: returning the kidnapped, eliminating Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip, “including Rafah,” and ensuring that Gaza “no longer poses a threat.”

According to Netanyahu, Israeli troops have eliminated “19 of the 24 Hamas battalions, including senior commanders,” in addition to having captured militants and “purged” Al Shifa Hospital, the most important in the Gaza Strip and now totally inoperative. after two weeks of Israeli siege.

“We destroy rocket factories, weapons, ammunition and continue systematically destroying the subsoil (in reference to Hamas tunnels). We are one step away from victory. But the price that is exacted from us is painful and heartbreaking.”stated as a balance of these six months.

In Gaza, according to the latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry of the Hamas Government, 33,175 people have died, two thirds of them women and children. In addition, nearly 75,890 people have been injured and some 7,000 bodies remain under tons of rubble.

Netanyahu also blamed Iran for the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, which left 1,200 dead on Israeli soil and sparked the war, and urged its citizens to unite. “in the need to continue fighting until victory” total in Gaza.

“This war revealed to the world what Israel always knew: Iran is the one behind the attack against us through its proxies. And these are many attacks. Since October 7 we have been attacked on many fronts by Iran’s affiliates: Hamas (in Gaza), Hezbollah (on the northern border), the Houthis (in Yemen), militias in Iraq and Syria, and also other attacks,” he listed.

And he warned that Israel “he is prepared – in defense and attack – for any attempt” that seeks to harm it from anywhere. However, he recalled that for this a national “unity” is necessary; in a clear allusion to members of both the War Cabinet such as Benny Gantz, or opposition leaders such as Yair Lapid, who ask for early elections.

“Precisely at this moment, an extreme and violent minority is trying to drag the country into division. There is nothing our enemies want more. “They want internal division and gratuitous hatred to stop us just before victory,” said Netanyahu, who opposes the elections as long as the offensive in Gaza lasts.

“The absolute majority of the people are united in the need to continue fighting until victory,” he added, despite the fact that massive demonstrations have been taking place for a week that demand, among other demands such as the return of captives, the end of his government.