Tel Aviv [Israel], December 17 (ANI): Stressing achieving “demilitarisation” of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he will never allow Palestinian authority to return to the strip, adding that there will be a ‘civil government’ that won’t educate children about “destroying Israel,” Times of Israel reported. He said that Israel won’t allow ‘Hamastan’ to turn into ‘Fatahstan’ even if this is the wish of Israel’s “staunchest ally,” referring to the US.

Netanyahu also cited a survey that found 82 per cent of Palestinians in the West Bank justified the October 7 attacks on Israel, adding that the Palestinian authority has yet to condemn the assault. “They should control Gaza?” he asked, referring to the Palestinian Authority, and stressed that he “won’t let that happen.”

On being asked about his vision for Gaza after the war, Netanyahu said, “I said there will be demilitarisation. I said the IDF will be responsible for security in the Gaza Strip because there is no other factor that will ensure the fight against terrorism. And I can tell you that there will be a civil government that does not educate its children to destroy Israel…I’m very clear on this.”

He further said that it was “only military pressure” that secured the release of hostages in last month’s truce and only military pressure will secure the release of the rest of the hostages as well. “Without it, we have nothing,” he added. The Israeli PM also stressed the diplomatic situation on the northern border of Israel after the IDF achieved a “crushing victory” over Hamas.

“First, there needs to be ‘crushing victory’ over Hamas, with Hezbollah deterred in the north, he says. Once Hamas is destroyed, Israel will focus on the north, where almost 100,000 Israelis are currently displaced from their homes,” Netanyahu said.”Either there will be a diplomatic situation on the northern border, or there will be a different way to solve the situation,” he added.

In another major statement, Netanyahu said that he is being blamed for putting “brakes” on the Oslo Accords, but said he is “proud” of preventing the Palestinian state. “I inherited the Oslo Accords,” he said. “The decision to bring the PLO from Tunis, and plant it in the heart of Judea and Samaria [West Bank], and in Gaza, was a decision made and implemented before I became prime minister. I thought it was a terrible mistake and I still do.”

“You and your journalist friends have been blaming me for almost 30 years for putting the brakes on the Oslo Accords and preventing the Palestinian state. That’s true,” Netanyahu said. He added, “I’m proud that I prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state because today everybody understands what that Palestine state could have been, now that we’ve seen the little Palestinian state in Gaza.

Everyone understands what would have happened if we had capitulated to international pressures and enabled a state like that in Judea and Samaria, surrounding Jerusalem and on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.” (ANI)

“It broke my heart”: Israel PM Netanyahu mourns death of three hostages mistakenly killed by IDF

Tel Aviv [Israel], December 17 (ANI): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the deaths of three Israeli hostages, who were mistakenly killed by the IDF, but said that the ground operation will continue until the terror group Hamas is destroyed, Times of Israel reported. Netanyahu said on Saturday (local time) that he mourns the “tragic deaths of our three hostages” — Yotam Haim, Samar Talalka, Alon Shamriz — mistakenly shot dead Friday morning by IDF soldiers. “It broke my heart; it broke the hearts of the nation,” Netanyahu said.

But he also added, “We are fighting for our existence… and we have to continue until victory” — despite international pressure and the losses Israel is suffering, Times of Israel reported. The Israeli Prime Minister said that he has been asking himself, and doubtless, all Israelis have been asking, “What if…” and “If only something had been different…We were so close to embracing them”. “But we can’t turn back the clock,” he added, noting that all warriors know that “the distance between victory and disaster is a hair’s breadth.”.

He further affirmed that Israel will learn the lesson and will maintain “the military and diplomatic effort” to bring back all the hostages. “They touched salvation, and then the disaster happened,” Times of Israel quoted Netanyahu as saying. This comes after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) mistakenly killed three of its hostages on Friday by identifying them as ‘threats’. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari informed about the incident, saying that they bear responsibility for the “tragic incident.”

During the joint press conference, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also said that he takes responsibility for the “tragic, accidental killing” of three hostages by IDF troops. “As defence minister, I take responsibility for everything that happens in the security establishment and everything that happens in this war, the achievements and the costs, and the severe mistakes. The same is true for the incident yesterday,” said Gallant on Saturday.

He noted the complexity of fighting in the Shejaiya district where the incident took place, with Hamas fighters “in every house and every alleyway,” and said that the area is full of “booby traps and potential ambushes,” the Times of Israel reported. “I have lost commanders and brothers in arms; I have seen a lot of difficult incidents, a lot that were close to me, including friends dying in battle. This is one of the most tragic incidents I have ever known,” Gallant said.

He added, “The price of war is very high. We pay it every day, but when you know that you are on a path that is just, then you are willing to pay a price until you achieve your entire goal, which here is destroying Hamas and returning all the hostages to their homes.” (ANI)