Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from Washington, DC (translated from Hebrew):
“This is the final day of a historic visit that followed a historic victory in the war against Iran. What has been agreed upon between President Trump and me, on issues pertaining to Gaza, the region and even beyond the region, will be discussed at a later time.
I would like to open this day by sending my deepest condolences, on behalf of my wife and me, to the family of the man who was murdered in Gush Etzion. We have tremendous achievements in the fight against terrorism, in Judea and Samaria and in the broader region, but there are also painful tolls. I would like to give, on your behalf as well, a strong embrace from the bottom of the heart to the family of the man who was murdered. May G-d avenge his death.
I met yesterday with the families of the hostages whom I invited, including families of both living hostages and deceased hostages. I invited them here for them to be present at the conclusion of the visit, because that doesn’t end the entire affair.
We are determined to bring back everyone, I told them that. I told them we are now attempting to achieve a release of half of the living and deceased hostages, in return for a temporary ceasefire of 60 days. In the beginning of that ceasefire we will enter negotiations on a permanent end to the war, that is, a permanent ceasefire. In order for us to achieve that, this has to be done on the minimal conditions that we’ve set: Hamas lays down its arms, Gaza is demilitarized, there are no longer any governing or military capabilities of Hamas. These are our fundamental conditions.
If this can be achieved in negotiations — so much the better. If this will not be achieved in negotiations after 60 days, we will achieve it in other ways; by applying the might of our heroic army.
We have said the same thing with regards to Iran and removing the nuclear threat. If this will be achieved in 60 days of negotiations between the US and Iran, so much the better. But if it won’t be achieved, it will be achieved another way.
I hear the questions raised by the public, the fighters, the reservists: “why is this taking so much time?” First of all, this is a battleground that no army in the world has ever faced. And thanks to the heroism of our fighters, thanks to the sacrifice of the fallen, thanks to stratagems, we have dismantled most of Hamas’s military capabilities. But not all of them, there are still thousands of armed militants. And we wish to act, once again, by combining diplomacy with military force, and using military force if diplomacy doesn’t get the job done, in order to complete the mission.
We have had to contend with an American embargo: “do not enter Rafah”, “do not conquer the Philadelphi Corridor”. Those are not simple matters. We overcame that and now we wish to complete that move. And I would like to remind you: during the past month, the past several months, while we were preparing and eventually carrying out perhaps the most daring military operation in our history — certainly one of the most daring, one that the entire world is dazzled by — at the same time we keep advancing in the Gaza Strip and retrieving deceased hostages. We’re doing it in parallel, not pushing it aside even for a moment, and now as well, we’re not pushing it aside even for a moment.
We’ve been told, “you will not return to the war”, after the first ceasefire agreement— and we did return. We’ve been told, “you will not resume your fight”, after the second ceasefire — and we did. Now they’re saying “you will not continue fighting”, after the third ceasefire. Do I need to say more?
I believe we have demonstrated our resolve, our might and our commitment to achieving all of our goals. Again, if the demilitarization and the dismantling of Hamas capabilities are achieved, if those things will be achieved by way of negotiations, so much the better. But either way, they will be achieved.
I hear the questions on who will determine the order of hostages’ release. First of all, let there be hostages who are being released. But to this day, as I’m saying, we’re dealing with a brutal terrorist organization. We of course would like to rescue everyone, and as far as we’re concerned, all of the hostages are humanitarian cases. I wish to rescue everyone all at once. Here we are dealing with two stages, but the choice isn’t always in our hands. We will do everything to maximize this release in the best way possible, but not everything is up to us”