Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s determination to eliminate Hamas’s military capabilities during a visit Tuesday to the joint US-Israeli Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, which oversees implementation of the Gaza ceasefire.
Standing alongside US CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Netanyahu said Israel’s allies accept its right to maintain “security responsibility for our forces and our freedom of action” in Gaza, even under the ceasefire framework.
He emphasized that the campaign’s central goal — the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip — remains unchanged and has the backing of President Donald Trump and other partners involved in the ceasefire plan. “We want to ensure that the goal agreed upon by President Trump and myself, with the consent of others, will be achieved,” Netanyahu said.
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The prime minister described Israel’s progress as part of a “staged effort” carried out in coordination with international partners but under Israel’s operational control. “There is a real joint effort here, maintaining our security in our own hands, to achieve results that perhaps no one believed we could reach — but we are determined to try,” he stated.
Netanyahu added that President Trump had framed the operation’s future succinctly: “We will either achieve this the easy way — as we hope — or the hard way. But we will achieve what we are determined to achieve.”
The visit came amid reports of renewed Hamas violations of the ceasefire and limited Israeli responses over the past day. Netanyahu was accompanied by Shin Bet Director David Zini, Maj. Gen. Yaki Dolf — Israel’s liaison to the Civil-Military Coordination Center — and senior IDF officers.
The meeting at Kiryat Gat highlighted ongoing coordination between Israeli and US command structures as both sides work to stabilize the ceasefire while ensuring that Hamas’s remaining weaponry and infrastructure are dismantled.