Netanyahu says he will not resign from office

Netanyahu was pressed about taking accountability during a news conference.

“Your question about the willingness to resign — that comes back again and again … The only thing I intend to resign from is Hamas. That’s what I’m going to resign from. That’s what I’m dealing with and nothing else,” Netanyahu said.

Winds have been shifting against the prime minister as Israel’s war in Gaza drags and as Hamas continues to hold hostages.

Multiple opinion polls suggest national favor toward Netanyahu and his governing coalition is collapsing, despite continued overwhelming support in Israel for the war on Hamas.

Netanyahu also stated during the news conference that Israel’s war against Hamas “will continue for many more months”.

“My policy is clear: We are continuing to fight until the goals of the war have been achieved, especially the elimination of Hamas and the release of all our hostages,” the prime minister added, according to a translated transcript of his comments released by his office.

Netanyahu also said the Israeli military is “fighting with force and new systems above and below the ground”.

“We have the upper hand, we have killed more than 8,000 terrorists,” he claimed.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip from the air and ground since the Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, killing at least 21,822 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 56,451 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.