Tel Aviv [Israel], February 24 : Speaking to cadets graduating from the IDF Ground Forces combat officers course, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns that Israel is "ready to return at any moment to intensive combat. The operational plans are ready," The Times of Israel reported.
During his speech, Netanyahu vowed total victory, stating, "All of our hostages, without exception, will return home," he says. "Hamas won't rule Gaza. Gaza will be demilitarized, and its fighting force will be dismantled," The Times of Israel quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Netanyahu entered the stage amid cheers and boos, and when he held up a photo of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the Israeli slain hostages, some in the crowd yell out in protest. Netanyahu says the image "says it all... So that we will always remember, what we are fighting for, and who we are fighting against."
He stresses that the Bibas family was murdered in cold blood in the early days of the war. "They strangled the tender boys with their bare hands," he says. "We must defeat those monsters, and we will defeat them."
"Victory, victory and only victory," says Netanyahu. The victory "can be achieved in negotiations," he says. "It can be achieved in another way."
As per The Times of Israel, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his commitment to send crucial weapons to Israel. "The new defensive and offensive weapons will help us greatly in achieving total victory."
Trump sees "eye-to-eye" with Israel on Gaza, he added.
"We support President Trump's groundbreaking plan to enable the freedom to leave for Gazans and the creation of a different Gaza," says Netanyahu of the president's proposal to relocate the entire Gaza population and have the US take over and rebuild the war-torn Strip, as per The Times of Israel.
Netanyahu added that in the West Bank, IDF troops will stay in cities as long as it takes. The tank platoon that Israel introduced into the West Bank means that Israel is fighting terrorism "with all means and in all places," he says, as per The Times of Israel.