Israel agrees to resolve Gaza issue diplomatically
Israeli Prime Minister emphasizes complete demilitarization of Gaza Strip and elimination of Hamas.
According to TASS, Israel agreed to resolve the conflict in the Gaza Strip through diplomatic means. This was announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his recent visit to the US. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office posted a video recording of his speech.
Prime Minister Netanyahu stressed that Israel agreed to a 60-day ceasefire in the area, but remained determined to completely demilitarize and remove the Hamas movement from the area.
If diplomacy fails, Israel intends to achieve this goal militarily, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, noting that he made this position clear at a meeting in the United States on July 9 with a group of relatives of hostages held in Gaza.
"We are determined to release all the hostages, I told them about this. I told them that we are now trying to achieve the goal of releasing half of the hostages alive and dead in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire. When this ceasefire begins, we will begin negotiations on a permanent end to the war, that is, a permanent ceasefire. To achieve this, it is necessary to meet the minimum conditions that we have set: Hamas lays down its weapons, the Gaza Strip is demilitarized, there is no longer any Hamas rule or military potential there. These are our basic conditions," Prime Minister Netanyahu stated.
"If this can be achieved through negotiations, all the better. If it cannot be achieved through negotiations after 60 days, we will achieve it by other means, by the power of our heroic army," Netanyahu added.
The Israeli leader noted that the United States recently adopted a similar approach, giving Tehran 60 days to negotiate over its nuclear program, and on June 13, Israel launched a 12-day military campaign against Iran.
"We said the same thing about Iran and the elimination of the nuclear threat. I think we have shown determination, strength and commitment to achieve all of our goals. Again, if the demilitarization and the elimination of Hamas' capabilities are achieved through negotiations, that's even better. But no matter what, we will achieve it," Prime Minister Netanyahu affirmed.
