Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that the Israeli army 'will not stop fighting until Hamas is eliminated', ruling out the prospect of an immediate ceasefire in war-torn Gaza.
The Israeli prime minister was speaking after Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Cairo today for talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel to discuss a possible ceasefire in the besieged enclave.
Tel Aviv is under increasing pressure for a deal to release more hostages after three Israelis were killed by the IDF after being mistaken for terrorists despite holding up white flags reading 'SOS'.
The UN Security Council would also vote later today on a resolution calling for a pause in the war, diplomatic sources told AFP, after two previous votes were postponed as members argued over the wording.
“We will not stop fighting until we achieve all the goals we have set for ourselves: the elimination of Hamas, the release of our hostages and the end of the threat from Gaza,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) has vowed that the Israeli army 'will not stop fighting until Hamas is eliminated'
A fireball erupts after the Israeli attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20, as the conflict shows no signs of ending
People carry the shrouded body of a person killed during the Israeli bombardment of the Kuwait Hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20
Netanyahu also said Israeli forces were attacking Hamas terrorists “everywhere” in Gaza.
“Anyone who thinks we will stop is disconnected from reality… We are attacking Hamas with fire – an inferno,” he said.
“We also attack their minions near and far.”
Its top leader's visit to Cairo came a day after Hamas fired rockets that set off air raid sirens in central Israel.
It was a show of strength after a 10-week war that has devastated much of northern Gaza, killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians and driven some 1.9 million people, nearly 85 percent of the population, from their homes.
Israel has called on the rest of the world to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organization, saying Hamas must be removed from power in Gaza in the wake of the Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel that sparked the war.
But the sides recently revived indirect talks brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the US.
Israeli soldiers fire mortars from southern Israel towards the Gaza Strip on December 20
An Israeli soldier writes on a mortar in a position near the Israel-Gaza border on Wednesday
The aim is to reach another ceasefire and free more hostages taken by Hamas in its attack in exchange for Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Mobile phone and internet services were again disrupted across Gaza on Wednesday, which could complicate communications with Hamas leaders in the area who went into hiding after October 7.
The war has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Tens of thousands of people are crammed into crowded shelters and tent camps, amid shortages of food, medicine and other basic services.
Israel's Foreign Minister traveled to Cyprus to discuss the possibility of establishing a maritime corridor that would allow the delivery of large amounts of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Despite a burst of diplomacy by senior officials in recent days, the two sides appeared far from reaching an agreement.
Hamas has said no more hostages will be released until the war is over, and is expected to push for the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, including high-level militants, for those who remain.
Israel has so far rejected the demands. But the country has a history of lopsided exchanges with captured Israelis and the government is under intense public pressure to bring the hostages home safely.
Smoke rising due to Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Yunis on December 20, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli attack in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on December 20
A woman and children react as Palestinians gather at the scene of an Israeli attack on a house amid the ongoing conflict
Egypt and Qatar helped broker a weeklong ceasefire in November, with Hamas freeing more than 100 hostages in exchange for Israel's release of 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas and other militants still hold an estimated 129 prisoners.
Hamas said Haniyeh, who is believed to be based in Qatar but whose movements are rarely publicized, would discuss the war with Egyptian officials, without giving more details.
Ziad Nakhaleh, the leader of the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which took part in the Oct. 7 attack and is also holding hostages, said he would also go to Egypt in the coming days to take part in the talks.
Egypt, which borders Gaza, is deeply concerned about a possible influx of Palestinian refugees, fearing that Israel will not allow them to return.
Meanwhile, at least 46 people were killed and more than 100 injured early Wednesday morning after Israel bombed the Jabaliya urban refugee camp near Gaza City, according to Munir al-Bursh, a senior Health Ministry official.
In southern Gaza, several women and children were among those taken to Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis after strikes last night and Wednesday.
Destroyed houses are seen in Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, Wednesday, December 20, 2023. The kibbutz was overrun by Hamas on October 7
A boy was seen sobbing next to his injured mother, who was placed on a stretcher before being lifted and placed on her chest.
At least five people were killed and dozens wounded in a new attack on three residential homes and a mosque in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday, health officials said.
With the death toll steadily rising, Israel is coming under increasing pressure to halt or scale back its offensive.
But Israeli leaders have vowed to continue until Hamas's military and administrative capabilities are destroyed and until all hostages are released.
'We will continue the war to the end. It will continue until Hamas is destroyed, until victory,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
“Anyone who thinks we will stop is disconnected from reality,” he added, saying that every member of Hamas is “destined for death.”
His Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said on Tuesday that in southern Gaza, where the army launched a ground incursion targeting Khan Younis in early December, operations would last for months.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that the death toll had risen to more than 19,600 since the start of the war. No distinction is made between civilian and combatant deaths.
Hamas terrorists killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack.
The Israeli army says 134 soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive in Gaza.
Israel says it has killed about 7,000 terrorists, without providing evidence. It blames Hamas for the civilian deaths in Gaza, saying it is using them as human shields in fighting in residential areas.
