Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that no one would stop Israel from achieving victory in its war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
"No one will stop us -- not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else. It is possible and necessary to continue until victory and we will do it," Netanyahu told a televised press conference as the war in Gaza moves into its 100th day on Sunday.
He was referring to a case brought before the UN's top court, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, alleging Israel's offensive is in breach of the UN Genocide Convention, and an alliance of Iran-backed armed groups around the Middle East dubbed the Axis of Resistance.
He said the military assault in Gaza had already "eliminated most of the Hamas battalions" in the besieged Palestinian territory.
But he said that those displaced from northern Gaza would not be able to return to their homes any time soon.
"There is an international law and it says a simple thing -- you remove a population and you don't allow it to return as long as the danger exists," AFP quoted Netanyahu.
"And the danger exists. There is fighting there (in northern Gaza)."
