Israeli PM: We will destroy Hamas, stop Iran's nukes

Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared the Palestinian militant group Hamas to the Nazis, vowing to continue military operations in Gaza and to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

At the official Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, Netanyahu pointed to last spring’s military campaign in Gaza’s Rafah as a show of national resolve, saying Israel had defied international pressure to halt the operation.

Referring to Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel and the war that followed, Netanyahu affirmed, “We have changed the face of the Middle East… We will destroy all of [Hamas’s] capabilities. We will return all our hostages. We will defeat Hamas.”

The Israeli PM also identified Iran as a existential threat to Israel and the wider world. “If Israel, heaven forbid, were to fail in this campaign, the Western states would be next in line,” he stressed.

Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected any deal that falls short of fully dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities and has warned that Israel is prepared to act alone, if necessary, to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

While talks between the US and Iran continue, Israel remains skeptical of their outcome and has not ruled out limited military action targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.