🔵 Netanyahus full statement to Israeli citizens tonight:

Citizens of Israel,

On the eve of Sabbath, the first of December, the paratrooper warrior Amit Benzel wrote the following words to his family: "We began a historic journey, and we must finish it with a decisive victory. I am proud to be a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces." Five days later, Amit fell in battle. He did not sign his last words with his name. He signed them with a drawing of the Israeli flag. This is Amit's will. A decisive victory.

Yesterday, I met with my wife Sarah and the "Forum of Heroism" of the families of the fallen. They gave me a memory booklet, and here is its title: "In their deaths, they commanded us - victory."

This is the testament of all our heroes. They did not fall in vain. And tonight I come to tell you one thing: we are on the way to an absolute victory. Victory is within reach. It is not a matter of years or decades, it is a matter of months.

The IDF is achieving wonders. It advances systematically to achieve all the goals of the war that we, as the political leadership, set for it: neutralizing Qhamas, releasing all the captives, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. From the outset, I stated that absolute victory is our goal. This was the decision I brought to the government at the beginning of the war, and we will not settle for less than that.

I remember when I was a commander in the IDF's Sayeret Matkal unit, I heard from Meir Har-Zion: "We do not return - until we win." Today, I hear from our heroic soldiers and commanders: "We do not return - until we win." This is in stark contrast to what we have been told for months by various "experts" and "former officials" in the studios.

I must tell you that it is also in stark contrast to what many in the international community told us before the ground operation. They told us that a ground operation would not succeed, that it would be a mistake to enter Gaza City, that we could not clear out Qhamas command posts in hospitals without killing thousands of civilians, that we could not release 110 of our captives without ending the war, and above all they warned us that we could not enter the Qhamas terror tunnel network because it was "impenetrable." Our brave fighters and commanders have proven the opposite. Everything they said was impossible, our soldiers and commanders proved possible. All the goals set by the political leadership for the IDF - our soldiers and commanders achieved. They even surpassed that.

The achievements of the IDF are truly unprecedented. In four months, the IDF has killed or wounded about 20,000 terrorists, more than half the fighting force of Qhamas. We have dismantled 18 out of 24 battalions and we are eliminating the remaining terrorists in ongoing operations. Our soldiers systematically destroy the tunnel network where Qhamas hides. They destroy rocket factories, weapons depots, command and control centers, and hiding places that Qhamas thought were impenetrable. It was sure that it was safe, that we would not enter there.

Our heroic fighters are now fighting in Khan Yunis, the main stronghold of Qhamas. We have directed the IDF to also operate in Rafah and in two central camps, the last remaining strongholds of Qhamas. And here, when the time comes, the IDF will act according to international law and allow the population to safely leave the combat zones.

For these three actions: dismantling the battalions, clearing out the remaining terrorists, and destroying the underground infrastructure - we will continue until the end.

And I ask again to emphasize - there is no solution other than absolute victory. If Qhamas survives in Gaza, it is only a matter of time until the next slaughter, and the evil axis of Iran and its proxies will continue their campaign of killing and aggression unhindered.

🇮🇱 @israel_report