Israel will continue its military operations in the Gaza Strip, with the aim of destroying Hamas after the end of a few days of truce, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured in an interview granted to the television service of the Welt newspaper and published on Tuesday.

Netanyahu avoided any comment on the negotiations for a new extension of the truce in the war between Israel and Hamas. The ceasefire is currently in place until 7am on Thursday.

“We agreed that women, children and foreign hostages will be released as a priority,” the Israeli prime minister said in an interview with Welt TV, speaking in English.

Hamas – the Palestinian Islamist group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 – committed heinous killings, Netanyahu noted, referring to the October 7 attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 people.

After the end of the truce, “we will continue the battle”, he stressed. “We have no choice but to destroy Hamas,” the Israeli prime minister said.

Israel will continue to do everything possible to minimize civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu assured. However, according to Hamas, nearly 15,000 Palestinians have been killed and around 36,000 wounded since October 7 due to Israeli shelling. In addition, the fate of another 7,000 displaced persons in the densely populated Palestinian enclave is unknown.