Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated in his weekly Cabinet meeting that fighting in Gaza will continue until the Hamas militant group was defeated and all hostages were returned.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that he was committed to seeing Hamas militants defeated in Gaza. 

“We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north,” he said.

He added that “dozens of terrorists are being eliminated every day.”

The conflict in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ attack into Israel on October 7, has killed 38,000 people in the enclave so far, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

“Hamas is the only obstacle to the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu added at the meeting. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by many governments including the US, Israel and others.

Israeli forces on Sunday advanced into Shejaiya, a neighborhood in Gaza City in the north, as well as pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south.