Netanyahu said Israelis ‘would have gone up to heaven in nuclear smoke’ if he had ended the war earlier

“The war would have ended with a crushing victory for Hamas and the entire Iranian axis.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that the war should not have ended sooner, as his critics, including the opposition, have suggested.

He claimed at the Knesset that halting operations earlier would have left Israel facing an existential threat. “Israelis from all sectors would have gone up to heaven in nuclear smoke,” he warned, arguing that perseverance in Gaza prevented such an outcome.

Netanyahu credited the campaign with restoring deterrence and national confidence. “We strengthened Israel’s posture, brought home our hostages—those alive and some who fell—and we will return the rest,” he said. “We cemented our status as a superpower, but the campaign is not over.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas agreed to the current hostage-ceasefire arrangement only after facing the threat of destruction as Israeli forces advanced deep into Gaza City, the group’s final major stronghold.

“Hamas understood it was facing annihilation,” Netanyahu told the Knesset, asserting that the army’s push into the city forced the organization to accept the deal. He said that had he yielded to those calling to end the war earlier, “the war would have ended with a crushing victory for Hamas and the entire Iranian axis.”

The prime minister delivered his remarks amid frequent heckling from opposition lawmakers, several of whom were removed from the chamber.

Netanyahu accused critics at home and abroad of aiding Hamas’s efforts to secure favorable ceasefire terms. “They wanted the war to end with surrender—helped by some in Israel, by foreign governments, and by the international press,” he said.

Referring to Sunday’s deadly attack in Rafah, in which Hamas terrorists killed two Israeli soldiers during the ceasefire, Netanyahu said the group had “blatantly violated” the truce and paid a steep price.

The IDF, he noted, struck dozens of targets with 153 tons of explosives, including positions of senior Hamas commanders. “The ceasefire is not a permit for Hamas to threaten us,” he said. “There will be a very heavy price for aggression against us.”

Looking ahead, Netanyahu vowed that by the end of the ceasefire’s second phase, “Hamas’s military and governing capabilities will be eliminated.”

Still, he said, Israel remains open to reconciliation. “Peace is made with the strong,” he added. “And today, everyone knows Israel is stronger than ever.”