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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clarified remarks he made in April ahead of the Rafah offensive that Israel was a “step away from victory” in the Gaza war.
With the war still ongoing more than five months later, the Israeli leader faced questions about the ill-timed remark during a press conference with foreign press on Wednesday. He attempted to clarify the statements he made in April, saying that the offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah would “pave the way” to victory rather than deliver it.
“What I meant to say [then] was that we were a step away from the critical thing that will pave our way to victory,” Netanyahu stated.
“I didn’t think that we could have this victory if we didn’t go into Rafah, and I withstood quite a bit of international pressure and American pressure to go into Rafah and to Philadelphi [Corridor],” he added, referring to a strip of land in southern Gaza running along the border of the Palestinian enclave with Egypt.
Israel is now in “a position to destroy Hamas militarily” thanks to the Rafah operation, the prime minister asserted. However, the “governance capability” of the Palestinian group is yet to be destroyed, Netanyahu stated, adding that there is more work ahead.
“I don’t want to administer Gaza, but I want to take this away from Hamas,” he stressed.
Netanyahu also reiterated his refusal to remove Israeli troops from the Philadelphi Corridor in any potential ceasefire and hostage deal with the Palestinian group. The demand has reportedly become one of the major obstacles to reaching an elusive deal.
“They say, ‘If you stay, this will kill the deal.’ And I say, such a deal will kill us,” Netanyahu claimed.
Back in June, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2735, which called for “an immediate, full, and complete ceasefire with the release of hostages.” Talks have since broken down several times, with both parties blaming the other for making increasingly unrealistic demands.