Israel is "defending the most sacred values of the Free World and all of human society" in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday afternoon at a cadet graduation ceremony at the IDF’s officers school in southern Israel, known as Bahad 1.
Responding to mounting international pressure over Israel's looming ground offensive in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Netanyahu said "We are battling these monsters to ensure our very existence while protecting the most sacred values of the Free World and all of human society.
"That's why I say to the world leaders - by defeating the murderers of October 7, we prevent the next September 11, and it's only right that the entire civilized world supports the IDF and the State of Israel. Moving forward, we will openly learn all the lessons from October 7, but we have one clear and immediate goal - achieving total victory in the war."
"There is international pressure and it's growing, but particularly when the international pressure rises, we must close ranks, we need to stand together against the attempts to stop the war," he said.
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The military would operate against Hamas all through the Gaza Strip, he said, "including Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold."
"Whoever tells us not to act in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen," he added.
Reuters contributed to this report