Israel’s Netanyahu Vows to Continue Gaza War ‘To The End’

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waits for the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 18, 2023.Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Wednesday to continue the war against Hamas until the terror group is eliminated, while saying that anyone who thinks Israel will stop its offensive is “detached from reality.”

“We are continuing the war to the end. It will continue until Hamas is eliminated—until victory,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement on Dec. 20.

His remarks come amid reports about a possible deal between Israel and Hamas for a second pause in the fighting to allow for humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza.

Israel has waged a massive assault on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed around 1,200 Israelis, many of them civilians.

So far, Israel’s offensive has killed at least 19,667 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health, which claims that roughly 70 percent of those killed are women and children.

Israeli soldiers fire during an operation against Hamas, in Gaza, in an image released on Nov. 16, 2023. Israel Defense Forces/Handout via Reuters/File photo

Palestinians look at destruction after the Israeli bombing In Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2023. Mohammed Dahman/AP Photo

Civilian Casualties In Focus

The White House has expressed unease about the extent of civilian casualties, with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin traveling to Israel and urging his Israeli counterparts on Dec. 18 to take a more “surgical” approach when striking targets in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeated that call on Wednesday, saying that the United States wants and expects Israel to shift its military operations in Gaza to a lower-intensity phase during which there will be more targeted operations focused on the Hamas leadership and its infrastructure.

The appeals by Messrs. Austin and Blinken came amid growing international calls to wind down the fighting in the Gaza Strip, with nearly the entire United Nations Security Council voting earlier in December in favor of a ceasefire resolution—before the United States vetoed the measure.

The U.S. veto of the resolution came amid criticism by the United States of the U.N. Security Council’s “serious moral failure” to condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. The council is set to vote on another resolution this week calling for a suspension in fighting and encouraging more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

In November, Israel and Hamas agreed to a weeklong truce to allow for the release of hostages and aid to flow into Gaza. That deal ended despite global pressure to extend the ceasefire.

Another Ceasefire?

Mr. Netanyahu said in his Dec. 20 statement that there would be no halt to Israel’s operations in Gaza until all war aims have been achieved.

“Whoever thinks that we will stop is detached from reality,“ Mr. Netanyahu said. ”We will not stop the fighting until all of the goals that we have set are achieved: The elimination of Hamas, the release of our hostages, and the removal of the threat from Gaza.”

“We are attacking Hamas with fierce fire, everywhere, including today. We are also attacking their accomplices near and far,” he continued.

“All Hamas terrorists, from the first to the last, are dead men walking. They have only two possibilities: Surrender or die.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses media during a joint press conference with the French President in Jerusalem, Israel, on Oct. 24, 2023. Christophe Ena/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden told reporters in Milwaukee on Wednesday that the United States is still figuring out whether to support a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for a halt to Israeli operations in Gaza to allow humanitarian aid.

“We’re negotiating right now at the UN the contours of a resolution, a resolution that we may be able to agree to,” President Biden said. “That’s still going on.”

Elsewhere, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that, while there’s “significant commitment” by all UN Security Council members on getting humanitarian assistance to Gaza residents, the United States needs to see specific condemnation of Hamas in the resolution in order to back it.

“It’s important for us if the Security Council is going to speak on this, that there’s a condemnation of Hamas and what they did on the seventh of October, there’s a recognition of the need for Israel to be able to defend itself and there’s, of course, significant commitment by all members on getting humanitarian assistance into the people of Gaza.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Blinken told a news conference on Wednesday that the Biden administration wants and expects Israel to lower the intensity of its Gaza operations.

Mr. Blinken said that once this shift happens, the “harm done to civilians” should decrease significantly.