Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted that the military operations inside Gaza have not progressed at the pace he had initially anticipated and backtracked from his earlier statement of occupying the territory after the war.
The Israeli leader in an interview with US media outlet Fox News said: "It's taking a little longer than I had hoped."
"I hope we could do it very fast, but we have battled conditions on the ground, the safety of our own forces, the hostages. We want to get out and the humanitarian corridors," Netanyahu said.
"So it's taken a little while, but … I very much appreciate the support that President Biden has shown, the administration has shown, and frankly, the American people have shown and in the Congress have shown on both sides of the aisle," he added.
