Netanyahu Lays Out 5 Conditions for Ending the War, Rejects Starvation Claims

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu delivered an English-language press conference Sunday following the Security Cabinet’s decision to assume control over Gaza. He began by warning that Hamas still has “thousands of armed terrorists” committed to repeating the October 7 massacre.

“Hamas still has thousands of armed terrorists in Gaza. They vow to repeat the savagery of the October 7th Massacre and to do so again, and again, and again. It openly professes its goals to destroy Israel. It subjugates Gazans, it steals their food, and it shoots them when they try to move to safe zones. It’s instructive that now, many Gazans are fighting back. They’re begging us and the world, ‘Free us, and free Gaza from Hamas,’” Netanyahu said.

He stressed that Israel’s objective is not to occupy Gaza but to liberate it from Hamas. “No nation could accept a genocidal terrorist organization, an organization committed to its annihilation, a stone’s throw from its citizens. Our goal is not to occupy Gaza; our goal is to free Gaza. Free it from Hamas terrorists. The war can end tomorrow if Hamas lays down its arms and releases all the remaining hostages.”

Netanyahu outlined his vision for Gaza after the war: “Gaza will be demilitarized; Israel will have overriding security responsibility; a security zone will be established on Gaza’s border with Israel to prevent future terrorist incursions; a civilian administration would be established in Gaza that will seek to live in peace with Israel.” He emphasized that with Hamas refusing to surrender, Israel must “finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas.”

Currently, Netanyahu said, Israel controls 70–75% of the Gaza Strip, with remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza City and the central camps. The Security Cabinet has directed the IDF to dismantle those strongholds, which he described as “the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily.”

He explained that civilians will be moved out of combat zones to safe areas where they will receive food and medical assistance. Addressing accusations of starvation, Netanyahu declared: “Israel has let in close to 2 million tons of aid. I know of no other army that has enabled such aid to go to the civilian population in enemy territory. If we had a starvation policy, no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war. But our policy has been the exact opposite.”

Netanyahu accused Hamas of looting aid meant for civilians and said the UN had refused for months to distribute thousands of trucks of supplies, leaving food to rot on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing. He announced three measures to ensure aid reaches civilians: “Designating safe corridors for humanitarian aid distribution… increasing the number of safe distribution points managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation… and airdrops by the Israeli Air Force, and we invite others to join us.” He said these steps have created a “humanitarian surge” coordinated with President Trump.

“The only ones who are being deliberately starved in Gaza are our hostages,” Netanyahu stated.

Drawing historical parallels, Netanyahu warned that false starvation claims echo antisemitic libels of the past. “That distortion is being echoed around the earth, the way that Jewish people were maligned in the Middle Ages… Every massacre of the Jewish people was preceded by massive vilification… culminating in the worst massacre of them all — the Holocaust. Today, the Jewish State is being maligned in a similar way.”

Asked about the timeline for Israel’s new offensive, he expressed hope it would be completed “fairly quickly” and compared the planned civilian evacuation to the successful operation in Rafah.

Responding to US President Donald Trump’s remarks about starvation in Gaza, Netanyahu said: “I very much appreciate President Trump’s support in this entire seven-front war… I think that, like me, he recognizes that there have been deprivations in Gaza, caused by Hamas, and what we have to do is overcome them. So we’ve been working together to overcome it.”

The Prime Minister reiterated his goal to rescue all 20 surviving hostages and recover the remains of those murdered. He rejected early military predictions that no hostages would be retrieved alive, noting that 205 of the 255 abducted have been returned, including 148 living hostages. He said military and diplomatic pressure are key to freeing the remaining captives, and “various creative ways” are being explored.

On the German arms embargo, Netanyahu called Chancellor Friedrich Mertz a friend but said he “buckled under the pressure of TV reports and pressure from various groups.” He criticized leaders who told him they agreed with Israel but could not withstand domestic public opinion, replying: “That is your problem, not our problem.” Netanyahu vowed, “We will win the war, with or without the support of others.”