A spokesman for the Israeli government has said that it wants to end military action in Gaza, but only when Hamas has been removed from power.
His comments came after the South African government accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Eylon Levy told GB News: “We're in a fight for our lives now. There will be no end to the fighting that leaves the hostages in Gaza and Hamas still in power.
“Because the first thing that Hamas did, after burning beheading and raping so many people, abducting all those hostages, was to tell us that it wants to do it again and again and one October 7 was not enough.
“We want to end this war. But we want to end this war in a way that makes sure Hamas cannot attack us again, because that is its reason for existing, in order to wage a never-ending war and jihad against our people.
“If anyone thinks we're going to abandon the vulnerable hostages in the Hamas terror dungeons, they're sorely mistaken.”
In a discussion with Camilla Tominey, he continued: “Our fight against Hamas is very similar to the fight that Britain and 85 other nations had against ISIS a decade ago. They understood they can't defeat an idea.
“No one thought they were going to destroy Islamic extremism for all but you can remove it from power and Britain joined together with other nations to say ISIS cannot have territory from which to conduct attacks against the rest of the world.
“And our fight is very similar with one small difference. This isn't a thousand miles away. This is literally our backyard. Some people's homes in Israel are only metres away from the Hamas terror regime that is telling us it wants to burn whole families again.”
He continued: “We need our people to be able to go home, to go to the homes that were burned to a cinder on October 7, and to sleep safely in their beds.
“And for that to happen, the Hamas terror regime can no longer be their neighbour.”
