'A step away from victory': Netanyahu claims as war on Gaza completes 6 months

After six months of war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel was “a step away from victory".

“The achievements of the war are great,” said Netanyahu at the beginning of his cabinet meeting In Jerusalem. Israel declared war in response to Hamas’ October 7 cross-border attack, in which the militant group killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped about 250 others.

Netanyahu set two objectives: destroying Hamas and bringing home the hostages. Despite his repeated pledges to achieve “total victory,” his goals remain elusive.

At the same time, Israel hasn’t been able to halt the daily attacks it faces on its northern front from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

In contrast to Hamas, Hezbollah’s much larger arsenal remains intact, leaving the fate of tens of thousands of uprooted civilians on both sides of the border up in the air.

The tensions have threatened to drag in Hezbollah’s sponsor, Iran, especially after an airstrike widely attributed to Israel killed two Iranian generals in neighbouring Syria this week.

“This war revealed to the world what Israel always knew - Iran is the one behind the attack against us through its proxies. These are many attacks,” said Netanyahu, adding that “Israel is prepared in defence and attack for any attempt to harm us from anywhere.”