2024-01-28T14:40:07+00:00
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/ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that eliminating Hamas in the Gaza Strip would require several months, as happened with the US Army during the liberation of the Iraqi city of Mosul, referring to the liberation of the city by US forces, noting that the war is progressing better than expected.
Netanyahu said in an interview with the American newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, that “the war is progressing better than expected, and it took the United States 9 months to destroy the extremist forces in Mosul,” referring to the Iraqi city that remained for a period under the control of ISIS.
“Mosul is smaller than Gaza and did not have the infrastructure tunnels of terrorism,” he added, stressing that “the goals of the war are achievable, but it will take several months.”
Israel has repeatedly said that its goal in the war was to eliminate Hamas and release the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu said: “Anyone who supports Israel and supports the two-state solution should ask themselves a few questions: Do they support the Palestinians having an army? The answer is: Of course not. Should the Palestinians be able to provide weapons? The answer is: Of course not. Should they be able to establish military alliances with Iran? The answer is: Of course not.”
As for any possible future agreement, the Israeli prime minister said that “the Palestinians must have the ability to govern themselves, but without any ability to threaten Israel.”
He explained this by saying: “Israel must maintain its security control west of the Jordan River, and this includes Gaza as well.”
Netanyahu strongly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, a central point of contention between Israel and the United States in their vision of the situation in the Palestinian territories after the end of the Gaza war.