Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his pledge to force Hamas to disarm in a defiant and combative speech on Friday just an hour after a ceasefire began in Gaza.<\/p>\n
In a televised address<\/a>, Israel\u2019s prime minister said he had resisted intense domestic and international pressure to achieve his aim of ensuring \u201cthe security of Israel\u201d, and he lambasted his critics and reiterated a threat to return to war if necessary.<\/p>\n \u201cHamas agreed to the deal only when it felt the sword resting on its neck and it is still on its neck \u2026 Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza<\/a> will be demilitarised \u2026 If this is achieved the easy way, so much the better. And if not, it will be achieved the hard way,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n The deal signed early on Thursday and implemented on Friday will lead to Hamas releasing 20 living hostages<\/a> within 72 hours, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of Gaza, and freedom for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Further steps are still unclear.<\/p>\n In his address, Netanyahu said achieving security for Israel<\/a> meant \u201cbreaking the Iranian axis, of which Hamas is a central component\u201d, suggesting he had achieved this over the 24 months of relentless conflict.<\/p>\n Benjamin Netanyahu (centre); the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff (left); and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of Donald Trump, attending a government meeting in Jerusalem on Thursday. Photograph: Xinhua\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Analysts described it as an election speech. \u201cHe is always campaigning. In every speech it is \u2018I ordered this\u2019, \u2018I ordered that\u2019. It\u2019s always me, me, me \u2026 That\u2019s what he does best,\u201d said Yossi Mekelberg, a specialist in Israeli politics at London\u2019s Chatham House thinktank.<\/p>\n Netanyahu\u2019s popularity has not recovered substantially since the 7 October 2023 Hamas raid that triggered the war in Gaza. The attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with another 250 taken hostage.<\/p>\n Since then, even slight boosts for Netanyahu and his Likud party \u2013 after military campaigns against Hezbollah in Lebanon last year and Iran in June \u2013 have come only at the expense of other members of the current ruling coalition, the most rightwing in Israel\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Elections in Israel are due within about a year and most observers expect them within six months. The most recent survey, published on Friday by Ma\u2019ariv, an Israel newspaper, showed widespread support for the ceasefire and hostage release among Israelis had boosted Likud by only two seats, and that the current coalition would still face defeat by a wide margin.<\/p>\n