WATCH: Netanyahu says victory over Hamas ‘weeks away’ once Rafah operation begins

(VINnews) — Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday. He discussed specific details about the IDF’s progress in eliminating Hamas, the potential time frame for victory, a potential hostage deal, the potential of a Palestinian state, and more. At one tense point during the interview, Netanyahu scolded Brennan, saying: “you lob these grenades at me and you keep on moving.”

Netanyahu said that once Israeli forces enter Rafah, they are weeks away, not months, from victory. He also reaffirmed his commitment to the release of all hostages, and he debunked the notion that no foreign leaders are considering unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

Host Margaret Brennan asked the Prime Minister about a potential hostage deal.

Netanyahu repiled: “Well, I’m not sure the exact duration, but I can tell you that we’re all working on it. We want it, I want it. Because we want to liberate the remaining hostages, we’ve already brought half of them back. And I appreciate the effort, the combined effort of Israel, the United States, to bring back the remaining hostages. I can’t tell you if we’ll have it. But if Hamas goes down from its delusional claims and goes down- can bring them down to earth, then we’ll have the progress that we all want.”

WATCH FULL INTERVIEW:

Brennan asked what the holdup is, and the PM replied, “…Hamas started out with just crazy demands. And, you know, it’s- it’s too soon to say if they’re- if they’ve abandoned them, but if they do abandon them and get into what you call the ballpark, they’re not even in the city. They’re in another planet. But if they come down to a- a reasonable situation, then yes, we’ll have a hostage deal. I hope so.”

Brennan asked if the return of living hostages is necessary and essential for him to declare victory.

Netanyahu replied, “Yes, we set- I’ve set three war goals. The first is to release the hostages. The second is to destroy Hamas. And the third is to ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future. And obviously, the three are intertwined.”

At one point Netanyahu reaffirmed something he has said before: “…victory is within reach, and you can’t have victory until you eliminate Hamas.“

Brennan asked how within reach victory is, and the PM responded, “…once we begin the Rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion, not months, weeks away from completion. And that is- we’ve already destroyed 18 of the 24 Hamas terrorist battalions…and four of them are concentrated in the Rafah. We can’t leave the last Hamas stronghold without taking care of it, obviously, we have to do it….But it’ll happen. If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It has to be done. Because total victory is our goal, and total victory is within reach. Not months away, weeks away once we begin the operation.”

The host tried to claim that there is division in Israel and Netanyahu does not have the support of the Israeli public, and Netanyahu pushed back hard.

“Wait- wait- wait a minute Margaret, Margaret, hold on, you- Well, first of all, you say, there’s no confidence me? Well, the Israeli public has confidence in me. Last week–the Knesset voted overwhelmingly- of course, we have protests. We- we have protests, Israel is a democracy that protests for 30 years. But the Israeli people are united as never before. Last week, they voted 99 to nine in the Knesset for my proposal that says that the way- that we have to do two things, we have to win the war, have total victory, but also not have an international dictate of a Palestinian state on it- shoved down our throats that would endanger Israel, but people are overwhelmingly united on this.

He added, “When is the last time we had 99 votes in the Knesset? Thirty years ago.”