Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said there’s no other option but “to overthrow the Hamas regime” in the Gaza Strip.
“It looks like there will be no other choice but to embark on a wide scale campaign (in Gaza),” Netanyahu said in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet Radio shortly before his flight to Sochi, where he is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since 2015.
“There will be a military operation but I will only launch it when we are ready and not a minute earlier. I don’t base my policy on tweets,” said the Israeli prime minister.
The prime minister also said he wasn’t fazed by the rocket alert sirens during his speech in Ashdod despite immediately being taken to safety by his security guards. “I was calm and collected, I spoke quietly to the people in the audience and told them to evacuate,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli PM was slammed over the video showing him rushing off stage when rockets were fired from Gaza into Ashkelon when he was visiting the city for his elections campaign.
Source: Israeli media