Netanyahu says ‘nothing will stop’ Gaza op, while FM Cohen tells visiting Australian minister ceasefire would be a ‘gift’ to Hamas; Washington welcomes recent humanitarian efforts

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen both vowed Wednesday that the military offensive against the Hamas terror group will continue “until the end,” indicating Israel would not buckle to mounting international pressure for a ceasefire.

Netanyahu made his remarks during a visit to a detention facility in southern Israel where Hamas gunmen captured in the Gaza Strip are being questioned by the Israel Defense Forces’ human intelligence unit 504.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu received a briefing about the unit’s work and the interrogation procedures.

(Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen both vowed Wednesday that the military offensive against the Hamas terror group will continue “until the end,” indicating Israel would not buckle to mounting international pressure for a ceasefire.

Netanyahu made his remarks during a visit to a detention facility in southern Israel where Hamas gunmen captured in the Gaza Strip are being questioned by the Israel Defense Forces’ human intelligence unit 504.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu received a briefing about the unit’s work and the interrogation procedures.

He told the unit’s soldiers that “we are continuing until the end, until victory, until the elimination of Hamas” — even in the face of international pressure. “Nothing will stop us,” he said.

“Let there be no doubt on this matter,” he added

Netanyahu also expressed appreciation for the military’s work in Gaza, adding that “yesterday we had a very tough day,” when 10 soldiers were killed in Gaza — nine of them in a Hamas ambush in the Strip’s no.

Echoing the prime minister’s sentiments, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also said the war against Hamas will continue “with or without international support.”

“A ceasefire at the current stage is a gift to the terrorist organization Hamas, and will allow it to again threaten the residents of Israel,” Cohen told Australia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tim Watts, according to a statement issued by his ministry.

The comments by the premier and top diplomat came a day after the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a nonbinding resolution Tuesday demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages.

And US President Joe Biden, who has provided unprecedented support for Israel since the outbreak of the war, went after Netanyahu and members of his hardline coalition over their opposition to a two-state solution while warning that Israel was losing global support due to its “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.

War erupted when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern Israel October 7, massacring 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking some 240 people hostage. Israel then launched its campaign against the terror group, vowing to eliminate its military and government in the Gaza Strip, where it has ruled since 2007.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has claimed that, since the start of the war, more than 18,600 people have been killed, mostly civilians. These figures cannot be independently verified and are believed to include some 7,000 Hamas terrorists, according to Israel, as well as civilians killed by misfired Palestinian rockets. Another estimated 1,000 terrorists were killed in Israel during the October 7 onslaught.