Netanyahu, Gallant: ‘Rafah’ and Sinwar Assassination Key Targets Before Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Latrun, Jerusalem (DPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued threats on Monday, just before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's arrival in Tel Aviv.
They vowed to pursue total victory by assassinating Hamas leaders like Yahya Sinwar and escalating the conflict to Rafah.
Netanyahu insisted they wouldn't end the war until these leaders were eliminated and rejected any prisoner release without conditions.
Netanyahu made these comments during a meeting of the Likud parliamentary bloc this afternoon, which also saw verbal clashes among party officials.
“Our goal is a complete victory over Hamas. We will kill the Hamas leadership, so we must continue to operate in all areas in the Gaza Strip. We must not end the war before then. It will take time — months, not years,” said Netanyahu, as quoted by the Times of Israel.
He noted that 110 of the 253 hostages seized in the Hamas-led massacre attack on October 7 had already been released.
Netanyahu cautioned that this time around “Hamas has demands that we will not agree to. The release formula should be similar to the previous agreement.”
He emphasized that a deal would not be made at “any cost.”
In other news, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement to the public that Hamas’s leadership, including Yahya Sinwar, is “on the run.”
“Sinwar does not lead the campaign, does not command the forces. He is busy with his personal survival,” claimed Gallant.
The minister further alleged that the IDF has beaten more than half of Hamas’s forces.
In addition, at an organizational level, he said the victory was larger, having taken apart 18 of Hamas's 24 battalions.
Gallant said that three of four Khan Yunis battalions have been taken apart, with the fourth in western Khan Yunis on the verge of falling.