Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says elimination of Hamas is his goal in Gaza

As top US officials push for a hostage deal and a pause in the war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday the only acceptable outcome is the elimination of Hamas and any threat it may pose to Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuters)

Speaking at an evening news conference, Netanyahu noted that it was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. He held up a copy in Arabic of Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf” and said it was found, along with other Nazi and propaganda, by Israeli soldiers in Gazan homes.

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When Israel finishes in Gaza, he said, such antisemitic education will not continue.

“If we don’t eliminate the Hamas terrorists, these ‘new Nazis,’ the next massacre is only a question of time,” he said.

Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns is set to join fresh hostage talks in coming days, seeking a deal that US and regional officials say would be part of a cease-fire of at least two months.

Netanyahu didn’t mention such talks or any pause in fighting. Instead, he said he’d “instructed the ministers of defense and finance to bring before the government an unprecedented plan, a huge plan, to strengthen our defense industries for decades to come.”

As he spoke, Israeli troops were fighting intense battles around the central Gaza city of Khan Younis and thousands of Palestinians there were seen trying to evacuate to safety.

The war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas operatives swarmed into Israel, killing 1,200 and kidnapping 240. Israel responded with attacks from the air, sea and land, killing nearly 26,000, according to Hamas officials, who don’t distinguish between civilians and fighters.