Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Tuesday, 8 July 2025), at Capitol Hill [translated from Hebrew]:
“This is a difficult day. We lost five of our heroic fighters. The bereavement and pain are afflicting us, all parts of the nation. At the same time, we are also determined, not just to send – of course – our condolences to the families, whom we embrace, but to achieve our objectives for the war in Gaza: To release all of our hostages, to eliminate Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and – of course – to ensure that Gaza will not constitute a threat to Israel.
This means – there will be no Hamas. This must be understood. This is not just something that we are saying, nor will it be. This entails a certain strategy, which I will not detail here. This entails efforts, some of which are painful, and some which will be very painful to Hamas, but the end result will be the release of all our hostages, and the defeat and dismantling of Hamas. Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel, and we have yet to finish the work.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Tuesday, 8 July 2025), on Capitol Hill (Original English):
“These are momentous days, but they’re also touched by tragedy. We lost five of our brave soldiers in Gaza. The people of America, well Texas, have profoundly lost their colleagues. We stand with the people of Texas and the people of America as the people of America stand with us. We send our condolences to the bereaved families.
I said these are momentous times, and they are. The President and I believe in a doctrine called peace through strength. First comes strength, then comes the peace. Our resolute action, the resolute decision of President Trump to act with us against those who seek to destroy Israel and threaten the peace of the world has made a remarkable change in the Middle East.
The remarkable American B2 pilots showed remarkable perseverance, persistence and power. The soldiers of Israel fought like lions, our pilots struck like lightening and our common alliance roared like thunder. And this is having a great change in our region. There are opportunities for peace that we intend to realize. We’re working together on this.
We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas’s military and governance capabilities because Gaza must have a different future, for our sake, for everyone’s sake. And no country will settle for less. We certainly will not.
These are all things that I discussed with President Trump. I may discuss further with him later in this visit. But I have to say that the coordination between our two countries, the coordination between an American president and an Israeli prime minister has been unmatched. It offers great promise for Israel, for America, for our region and for the world.”