Netanyahu: The war cabinet will unanimously determine the timing of the ground entry into the Gaza Strip and our goal now is to liquidate Hamas and return the prisoners

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that the Ministerial Defense Council, headed by him, will unanimously determine the timing of the ground entry into the Gaza Strip.

“I would like to be clear,  The timing of the IDF operation will be decided unanimously by the war cabinet, in cooperation with the IDF Chief of Staff,” Netanyahu said in a press conference.

Netanyahu added, “We set two goals for the war… liquidating Hamas by destroying its military and authoritarian capabilities, and doing everything possible to return the kidnapped people”.

He continued, “All Hamas members will die above and below the ground, inside and outside Gaza”.

He went on to say, “We’re preparing for a ground operation… I won’t specify when it will launch, or the considerations we take into account, most of which are unknown to the public”.

He added, “The failure to repel the Hamas attack that targeted the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip will be fully investigated… Everyone will have to provide answers, including me, but all of this will happen only after the war”.

Netanyahu had previously refrained from taking responsibility for the failure to anticipate and repel the Hamas attack, while Israeli officials and security service leaders announced that they bear responsibility for what happened.

Netanyahu said, “We only set our sights on one thing… saving Israel and achieving victory”.

He considered that Hamas attack on October 7 was a dark day in our history”.

On Monday, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper spoke of areal crisis of confidence between Netanyahu and the Israeli army, against the backdrop of the events in Gaza, and the responsibility for the failure to predict a Hamas attack.

In Israel, there is a general government, a mini-ministerial council for security and political affairs cabinet, and a military ministerial council, war cabinet.

The war cabinet consists of Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and two members of the opposition who joined the emergency government, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.