Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement on Hamas: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has reached the “final stage” of eliminating Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In a meeting with cadets from Israel’s National Security College on Monday, he said, “We are moving towards eliminating Hamas,” Xinhua news agency reported.
Netanyahu visited the Gaza Division a day earlier and held a security meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Galant and the army’s senior command in which he estimated that the fighting had now reached its final stage. The meeting stressed the need to continue military pressure on Hamas in Rafah.
On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces ordered a mass evacuation of civilians from eastern Khan Younis, indicating that the army could soon resume its attacks on southern Gaza City, where Hamas armed forces are fighting Israel in an organised manner.
Israel launched a massive assault on Khan Younis in early April and then withdrew most of its forces.