A clear message: "We must capture Rafah"

"Almost every Israeli understands that we have to take Rafah if we want Hamas to go. If we don't destroy them completely they will completely rebuild their organization," Bennett said.

He believes that about a million civilians who fled the conflict in other parts of the Gaza Strip to that southernmost city in the small enclave can be relocated to the area north of Khan Yunis.

"Look, it's not a five-star hotel. It's not comfortable there. Nothing here is what we wanted to do," Bennett said.

When asked by a journalist whether the White House is trying to remove Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister of Israel replied that it is a democratic country and it is no secret that large protests are held due to the political situation.

"But at the same time, the vast majority of Israelis support the goal of destroying Hamas, because we really have no other choice," Bennett said.

He announced on the X platform that he will continue to give interviews to foreign media after he spoke to Fox News on Wednesday.

The Israeli military said Wednesday ahead of an expected offensive on Rafah that it plans to direct a large portion of the 1.4 million displaced Palestinians in Rafah to "humanitarian islands" in the central part of the country, the Associated Press reported.

The fate of the Palestinians in Rafah is of great concern to Israel's allies. Humanitarian organizations warn that the offensive in Rafah will be a disaster.

Israel claims it is needed to achieve the goal of eliminating Hamas.