The Israeli military is prepared for a “long war” and will fight until it achieves complete triumph over its enemies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday at the start of the national parliament’s winter session.
Netanyahu declared that Israel was now fighting for its very survival and expressed confidence that his country would eventually achieve total victory over Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group that launched a surprise attack on Israeli territory near Gaza last week, killing and injuring hundreds.
“This is a decisive battle against those who seek to destroy us.” “Our goal is victory, total victory over Hamas, eradicating its power and the threat it poses to Israel,” Netanyahu said.
During his speech, the prime minister insisted that Israel was also ready to retaliate against the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group if it attempted to interfere in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I also have a message for Hezbollah: Do not test us in the north, do not repeat the mistake you once made, because now the price you will have to pay will be much higher,” Netanyahu said, adding that both Hezbollah and Hamas were “part of the axis of evil,” which he claimed was being led by Iran.
According to Netanyahu, Hamas is the same as the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and represents a “new version of nazism.” He urged the “entire civilised world” to assist Israel in this struggle, saying that “just as the entire world came together to defeat the Nazis and ISIS, it must now come together to defeat Hamas.”
Meanwhile, Russia has warned that the Middle East is on the verge of a devastating conflict and has called for an urgent ceasefire. While respecting Israel’s right to self-defense, President Vladimir Putin denounced the country’s retaliatory methods as “collective punishment” of Palestinians.
Putin has claimed that dialogue are the only way to end the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
