The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has told a group of United States members of Congress that “victory” in Gaza and “getting” Hamas’ senior leadership in the territory are just “a few weeks away.”
While speaking to a bipartisan group from Congress recently, Netanyahu said: “We’ve killed many senior leaders [of Hamas], including number four in Hamas, number three in Hamas. We’ll get number two and number one. That’s victory. Victory is within reach. It’s a few weeks away.”
Hosting the congressional delegation, according to the Prime Minister’s Office was organized by the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said it was “very important to maintain bipartisan support” but “especially in these trying times.”
Netanyahu said that Israel “had no choice” but to move into Rafah as the country’s “very existence is on the line.”
He said since the October 7 Hamas attack, Israel had enjoyed a “remarkable alignment” with the administration of Biden but had fundamentally different views on an Israeli move into Rafah.
Israel has encountered criticism internationally ahead of its planned attack on the southern Gaza city, in which over one million people are currently sheltering.
Netanyahu had earlier revealed to the delegation that displaced Palestinians in Gaza could “just move” out of Rafah and “move with their tents.”
He said: “There’s all of the Gaza Strip north of Rafah,” Netanyahu said. “People move down, they can move up.”
