Egypt Daily News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that his country will not tolerate threats against the Druze community in Syria and reaffirmed Israel’s presence in the Golan Heights.
Netanyahu claimed that Israel is engaged in an intense war on seven fronts against those who seek to destroy it, asserting that “Tel Aviv is fighting to secure its future against beasts that have risen to annihilate it,” as he put it.
Netanyahu stressed in a speech broadcast by Israel’s Channel 14 that “Israel is committed to the objectives of the war, which include returning the hostages, destroying Hamas’ capabilities, and eliminating threats against our citizens.” He added that Tel Aviv has so far managed to recover 192 hostages since the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump for the decision to supply Israel with new and advanced weapons, stating that these arms would have a significant impact on the ongoing conflict. He also claimed that Israel has managed to dismantle terrorist networks that had been built around it with Iranian support over decades.
Netanyahu stated, “We are ready at any moment to return to the highest levels of combat against our enemies, and the conditions we set from the beginning for ending the war are clear, the most important of which is that Hamas will not govern Gaza again.”
Netanyahu did not stop there; he also stated that “our forces will continue fighting in the West Bank, and for the first time in decades, we have deployed tanks there. Additionally, our forces will remain in Lebanese positions overlooking several of our areas.”
Netanyahu continued by stating that his country “has dealt significant blows to the ‘Iranian Axis of Evil,’ which has been met with admiration worldwide.” He claimed that on October 9, he had declared that Israel would change the Middle East, and that is exactly what it is doing now.
He further explained that “the Israeli army has also managed to dismantle terrorist infrastructures that were built around Israel with Iranian support over decades,” emphasizing that the military is ready at any moment to escalate combat operations against its enemies.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli media reported that Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz had requested the military to explore the possibility of establishing positions inside refugee camps in the West Bank.
According to the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, Katz issued instructions for the army to prepare for a prolonged stay in the camps that had been evacuated over the past year in the West Bank.
Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza after October 7, 2023, the West Bank has witnessed an escalation in incursions, repeated raids, and military operations by the Israeli army in Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps.
The Israeli military has kept the West Bank under closure since the start of the war on Gaza, isolating Palestinian cities and villages with checkpoints, military gates, and earth mounds.
Since January 21, the Israeli army has been carrying out a large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank. Its forces launched extensive attacks on the city of Jenin, targeting entire residential neighborhoods before expanding military operations into Tulkarm and Tubas in the northern West Bank.
On January 21, the Israeli army began a military operation in Jenin and its refugee camp. It later expanded its operations to Tulkarm on January 27. In recent days, the military has launched another operation in the town of Tammun and the Al-Fara’a refugee camp in Tubas Governorate.
