Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu speaks ahead of Cabinet vote on hostage deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the possible approval of a hostage deal with Hamas terrorists ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
"I want to start with something that should be obvious – there is nonsense talk out there, as if after the pause for the release of our hostages, we will stop the war," Netanyahu began. "So I want to make it clear: we are at war, and we will continue this war until we achieve ALL our goals."
"To eliminate Hamas, to bring back all of our hostages and missing people, and to ensure that in Gaza there will be no factor that threatens Israel," he added.
The Israeli leader also thanked President Biden for helping with negotiations to free hostages.
"I’ve talked to our friend, the President of the USA, Joe Biden, I’ve asked him to intervene in order to better the deal that will be presented to you," Netanyahu explained. "And it was improved to include more hostages for lesser price. These talks have succeeded, Mr. Biden got involved, and I thank him for that."
Netanyahu called the decision to negotiate with Hamas "difficult" before the vote began.
"We have a hard decision tonight, but it is the right decision, all the security establishment supports it. Completely," he said. "They made it clear in their full professional assessment that the security of our forces will be guaranteed during the days of the pause, and that the intelligence effort will be maintained during those days."
Fox News Digital's Dana Karni contributed to this report.
Posted by Andrea Vacchiano