Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich presented a plan on Thursday to defeat Hamas in Gaza, saying that Israel “can and must” achieve total victory by the end of 2025.

“The State of Israel does not have the privilege of ending the campaign in Gaza without a victory. There is only one option—decisive victory,” Smotrich, who is also chairman of the Religious Zionism Party, said in a press conference.

The minister said that Israel must embark on this campaign and “bring it to an end. To destroy the total evil that inflicted the horrors of Oct. 7 upon us,” referring to the Hamas-led invasion and massacre in Israel’s northwestern Negev in 2023.

He went on to confront those who “irresponsibly call to surrender” to Hamas and those who doubt that victory is possible. “I state unequivocally:

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