The Israeli prime minister also confirmed that the Israel Defense Forces had been instructed to commence operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where the population has been swelled by hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
In a sharp rebuff to the Biden administration and the visiting US. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, Netanyahu said it would require months more fighting before the defeat of Hamas.
Suggesting victory was "within reach", the Israeli prime minister said: "There is no alternative for the military collapse [of Hamas]. There will not be a civilian collapse [of Hamas rule] without a military one." The conflict has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians, levelled entire neighbourhoods, driven the vast majority of Gaza's population from their homes and pushed a quarter of the population to starvation.
There is mounting international concern that Israel is preparing a ground offensive to attack Rafah. UN officials have warned that an assault there would lead to a "large-scale loss of life" and the risk of war crimes.
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