PM Netanyahu: Israel to keep control between Jordan & Mediterranean; 'absolute victory' requires Hamas disarmament & Gaza demilitarization

To achieve “absolute victory” in the war against Hamas, Israel still needs to dismantle Hamas’ weapons and demilitarize the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a rare and wide-ranging press conference on Tuesday evening.

The Israeli prime minister touched on several sensitive topics in his speech, including blaming former U.S. President Joe Biden for endangering Israeli troops with a weapons embargo, declaring that Israel would keep security control over the area between the Jordan River and the sea, as well as rejecting early elections, citing the ongoing security tensions.

The focus of his speech was the completion of “the sacred mission” of returning all the hostages with the recent discovery of the remains of “hero” Ran Gvili, the final Israeli hostage in the Gaza Strip whose body was returned to Israel on Sunday.

“Absolute victory rests on three things: The return of all our hostages, the dismantling of Hamas's weapons, and the demilitarization of Gaza,” Netanyahu said, emphasizing that he had believed the return of the hostages could be achieved all along, despite what he described as assertions to the contrary by security officials.

“Because what is important in war, more than anything else, is to ignore the background noise, to stand with composure against pressures from home and abroad.”

Noting “pressures from abroad” in a controversial statement during a Q&A session, Netanyahu said that Israel had paid “very heavy prices” in the war by losing many soldiers. “Part of that is what happens in war,” he said, before noting that “at a certain stage, we didn’t have enough ammunition.”

“Part of that absent ammunition was because of the embargo,” he said, referring to the decision by former U.S. President Biden to slow-walk certain deliveries of ammunition and equipment.

Netanyahu’s remarks were made amid a period of tensions between Jerusalem and Washington, which is reportedly pressuring Israel to advance to the second phase of the ceasefire, including the opening of the Rafah crossing, to enable the start of reconstruction.

However, the prime minister has emphasized that Hamas needs to be disarmed before reconstruction can start, claiming that he and Trump are on the same page on this issue.

“I hear even now the statements that we will allow the reconstruction of Gaza before demilitarization. That will not happen. I hear that we will bring Turkish soldiers and Qatari soldiers into Gaza. That will also not happen. I hear that I will allow the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza. That has not happened, and it will not happen.”

Addressing the long-term future of the Gaza Strip, he reiterated his total opposition to a Palestinian state, despite the Gaza Peace Plan including a reference to “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”

“Today and tomorrow, we will not allow it,” Netanyahu asserted. “Israel will maintain security control over the entire area, from the Jordan to the sea, and that is also true regarding the Gaza Strip.”

Summing up his prepared remarks, Netanyahu warned the Iranian regime against attacking Israel again.

“In the War of Redemption, we have achieved great achievements together. We severely struck Iran, we severely struck Iran's terrorist proxies. Now, it is true, the Iranian axis is trying to recover, but we will not allow it to do so. If Iran makes the grave mistake and attacks Israel, we will respond with a force that Iran has yet to see.”

He added that he is in “constant contact” with the Trump administration about the issue, adding, “I don’t want to determine for President Trump what he does or doesn’t do.”

“Yesterday, my brothers and sisters, we closed a circle together. From here we continue forward with strength, determination and faith, continuing forward to ensure, with G-d's help, the future and security of the State of Israel for generations to come,” he concluded.

After Netanyahu’s speech, Israeli journalists took advantage of a rare Q&A session with the prime minister to press him on a range of domestic issues, topics he seldom addresses and on which he often criticizes the local media as being aligned with the opposition.

“The last thing Israel needs in this situation is an election,” he said when responding to a question about the passing of the state budget and negotiations with the ultra-Orthodox parties about the recent IDF Draft Law.

He stressed that it is his “aspiration and hope” to see this year’s elections held on schedule, at the end of October 2026. “I think everyone knows what a sensitive and unusual situation we are in,” he added.

Netanyahu also asserted his innocence in the Qatargate affair and dismissed allegations of illegal activity involving his chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, calling them “one gigantic fake,” and reiterating his opposition to a state committee of inquiry into the Oct. 7 failures.

“Everyone will take their responsibility” once “the truth” is credibly established by an inquiry panel appointed by government and opposition, which the coalition is currently advancing, the prime minister said.