PM Netanyahu vows ‘complete defeat of enemy in Gaza’ & release of hostages ahead of key cabinet meeting

Several hours before convening his closest advisers for a meeting in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to finalize plans for a complete takeover of the Gaza Strip, he affirmed that a “complete defeat” of Hamas remained inevitable.

Speaking to new IDF recruits, Netanyahu said, “It is still necessary to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza, release our hostages and ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel. We are not giving up on any of these missions.”

He made these comments several hours before a meeting of senior ministers and the IDF brass, in which Netanyahu is expected to formalize his decision to instruct the army to embark on a large-scale operation aiming to conquer the entire Gaza Strip.

Final approval for the operation will have to be given by the security cabinet, which could convene later this week. A meeting of the full cabinet of ministers is not currently scheduled.

Netanyahu did not invite ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to Tuesday’s crucial meeting, Israel Hayom reported, despite being members of the security cabinet.

This would be the second time that the two far-right ministers, who have advocated much more hawkish positions than the rest of the cabinet, have been excluded from critical decisions.

Last week’s decision to ramp up aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip was made without consulting the two ministers, who have threatened to leave the coalition over Netanyahu’s war policy.

Ben-Gvir already realized his threat once, pulling his Jewish Power party out of the government during the ceasefire in January earlier this year. When the fighting resumed, he returned to the government.

As he has done several times during the war, Netanyahu visited the IDF induction base at Tel Hashomer on Tuesday, meeting new recruits, answering their questions about the war and combat service before giving a short address.

This time, he met with recruits of the Armored and Combat Engineering Corps, whose tanks and armored engineering vehicles have spearheaded every Israeli advance in Gaza over the past two years of war.

“I am here at the IDF induction base with yet another group of recruits for the Armored Corps and the Combat Engineering Corps, two corps that have done outstanding things in this war,” Netanyahu said.

“This is the sixth recruitment group during the war, and the number of recruits is increasing from group to group. This greatly attests to both the fighting spirit within us and to the spirit of unity. These two things have, in fact, given us the major victories that we have achieved to date, in striking both Hamas and Hezbollah, toppling the Assad regime and striking Iran.”

“These achievements, of course, are behind us but it is still necessary to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza, release our hostages and ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel. We are not giving up on any of these missions. We will do this together through the great sacrifice of our fighting men and women,” Netanyahu noted.

“There has also been a great increase in the number of women who are volunteering for combat positions. I think that this attests to the strength of this people in ensuring the eternity of Israel,” the prime minister concluded.