PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, June 24: A day after Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the "intense phase" of the Gaza war is winding down, the army bombed Hamas on Monday as the Palestinian militant group again demanded a permanent end to the fighting.
The right-wing premier spoke in a TV interview Sunday evening as his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant travelled to Washington for what Gallant called "critical" talks with Israels top ally and arms supplier.
Netanyahu, in his first Israeli media interview since Hamass October 7 attack started the bloodiest ever Gaza war, told Channel 14 that "the intense phase of the fighting against Hamas is about to end".
He stressed that this "doesn mean that the war is about to end, but the war in its intense phase is about to end in Rafah," the far-southern city near Egypt that is the last part of Gaza to face a full ground invasion.
"The goal is to return the kidnapped and uproot the Hamas regime in Gaza," the premier said, again rejecting the permanent ceasefire demanded by Hamas over recent months of on-and-off talks involving US and other international mediators.
Netanyahu said Israel would then be able to "redeploy some forces to the north" on the border with Lebanon, where Israel has traded fire with the Hezbollah movement, but said this would be "primarily for defensive purposes".
As fears of a full-scale war in Lebanon have grown in recent weeks, Netanyahu said Israel would return its displaced citizens to their evacuated northern border communities, through diplomacy or by "another way".
When asked about Gaza post-war scenarios, he said Israel would maintain "military control in the foreseeable future" but that "we also want to create a civilian administration, if possible with local Palestinians" and regional backing.
Hamas slammed Netanyahus comments as a "clear confirmation of his rejection of the recent (UN) Security Council resolution and the proposal of US President Joe Biden," who has urged a hostage release and truce agreement.
Hamas insisted any such deal must include a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal in order to stop what it called "Netanyahus attempts to evade, deceive and perpetuate the aggression and war of extermination against our people". —AFP
