Tel Aviv, June 25 (RHC)-- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli military will continue its offensive in Gaza, even if Tel Aviv agrees to some aspects of a truce deal to return some captives held by Hamas in the Palestinian territory.

In a TV interview Sunday night, the prime minister of Israel claimed that the "intense phase” of fighting with Hamas fighters is nearly over in the southern town of Rafah.  “But that does not mean that the war will be over.” Once the intense phase of the Gaza war was over, he said, Israeli forces would “face north.”

The Zionist war criminal said that the redeployment of the regime’s forces to the border with Lebanon would be “first and foremost for defensive purposes.”  Netanyahu also claimed that he is “willing to make a partial deal [with Hamas], which will bring some of the people back to us. That is no secret. But we’re committed to continuing the war after the truce.”

Around 250 people were taken captive during Hamas's unprecedented operation against the occupied territories on October 7th.  The total number of Israeli captives still held by Hamas is now 116, of which at least 41 are dead.

Netanyahu has once again threatened that the regime’s goal is “to uproot” the Hamas resistance movement in Gaza.  In a statement on Monday, Hamas described Netanyahu’s comments as a "clear confirmation of his rejection” of the U.S.-supported truce deal, which also received the backing of the United Nations’ Security Council.

Hamas reiterated that any such deal must include a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories.

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) also denounced Netanyahu’s remarks.  It said that the intention of the head of the "Israeli" fascist regime to declare “a victory” over the resistance in the Gaza Strip is actually an admission of the defeat suffered by the military.

The regime, it said, has so far failed “to achieve all its objectives,” in the Palestinian territory.  “Netanyahu's claim that he succeeded in undermining the capabilities of the resistance to prevent a recurrence of Al-Aqsa Flood battle on October 7th is nothing but a big lie, which even his military leadership does not believe.”

The Israeli regime's military spokesperson Daniel Hagari had earlier acknowledged that Hamas cannot be eliminated.

"To say that we are going to make Hamas disappear is to throw sand in people's eyes," Hagari said.   He said Hamas is an ideology and "we cannot eliminate an ideology.”

After Hamas launched its surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the regime on October 7, Netanyahu ordered Israeli military forces to attack the besieged Gaza Strip with a force “like never before.”   The regime's military has so far killed more than 37,600 Palestinians in Gaza.