Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the Israeli army is determined to achieve “total victory” in the Gaza Strip.
“We are determined for a complete victory,” he said during his speech at the graduation ceremony of the military school.
“There are those who ask how long the campaign will last. In response, I will say two words: to victory. To victory, even if it takes more time,” the Israeli Prime Minister said.
His comments came amid talks in Doha this week involving delegations from Israel, the US, Qatar and Egypt. The parties discussed the possibility of an agreement with the Hamas group aimed at the release of the hostages.
The office of the Prime Minister of Israel announced on Thursday that the negotiators of their country will now go to Cairo, where they will continue to work on reaching a relevant agreement.
At the same time, Hamas stated that they had not received any new information regarding the negotiations on the ceasefire regime. According to the group, Israel is specifically “blocking” the solution to this issue.
On Thursday, Hamas also updated the data on the dead since the beginning of the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. Thus, according to her data, 38,300 Palestinians died.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday that they continue operations, in particular, in the Rafah area in the south of the Gaza Strip, as well as in the central part of the enclave. The Israeli military reported the destruction of two high-ranking members of Hamas, as well as the discovery of large caches of weapons, including drones and grenades.
On Thursday evening, the Israeli army carried out airstrikes against the positions of the Shia Lebanese movement “Hezbollah” in the south of Lebanon. In a statement, the military said its strikes targeted military infrastructure. It is reported that alarm sirens sounded in a number of Israeli areas near the border with Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for the creation of a special state commission to investigate the October 7 attack by Hamas. According to him, experts should check and evaluate the actions of the entire cabinet, as well as intelligence.
“It is necessary to check all of us: those who made decisions and specialists, the government, the army, the security services,” he emphasized.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel. More than 1,200 people became victims of the attack, and another 240 people were taken hostage. In response, the IDF launched a military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
