Benjamin Netanyahu has repeated his pledge to force Hamas to disarm, delivering a defiant speech just an hour after a ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Friday. The Israeli prime minister said Gaza would be demilitarised 'the easy way or the hard way', and warned that Israel would return to war if necessary.
In a televised address, Netanyahu said he had resisted intense domestic and international pressure to achieve his aim of ensuring Israel's security. 'Hamas agreed to the deal only when it felt the sword resting on its neck and it is still on its neck,' he said. 'Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarised.'
The ceasefire deal, signed early on Thursday, will see Hamas release 20 living hostages within 72 hours, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of Gaza, and the release of about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Further steps remain unclear.
Analysts described the speech as an election address. Yossi Mekelberg, a specialist in Israeli politics at Chatham House, said: 'He is always campaigning. In every speech it is “I ordered this”, “I ordered that”. It’s always me, me, me.'
Netanyahu's popularity has not recovered substantially since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. A survey published on Friday by the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv showed that while support for the ceasefire had boosted his Likud party by two seats, the current coalition would still face defeat by a wide margin.
Far-right ministers who threatened to collapse the government if the war ended without Hamas's destruction have yet to act. The coming weeks will bring further challenges for Netanyahu, including corruption charges and calls for a judicial inquiry into the failures that allowed the 2023 attack.
