For days, senior Biden administration officials have pressured Israel to plan for postwar Gaza as the long-anticipated Rafah offensive gets under way.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally delivered his response: Not so fast.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu rejected the U.S. demands, arguing that it would be “just chatter” while Hamas remains intact.
“There is no alternative to military victory,” Netanyahu said in a video released by his office. “The attempt to bypass it with this or that claim is simply detached from reality.”
He appeared to be rejecting assertions by top U.S. officials—and by his own defense minister—that Israel can’t win with force alone.
A plan for postwar Gaza has been one of the sharpest points of friction between the U.S. and Israel as the war grinds on and roils American politics ahead of the U.S. election.
In making their case, U.S. officials have pointed to continuing resistance by Hamas in areas of Gaza where Israel said it had all but eliminated the group’s presence.
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