PM Benjamin Netanyahu during interview. Photo: GPO.

In the second day of a cease-fire with terror group Hamas in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday told reporters that “Residents of the south have it better now than they did before the combat.”

In a wide-ranging, but unsurprising address, Netanyahu said “the people of Gaza are not our enemy, Hamas is our enemy. Gaza’s tragedy is that it is ruled by Hamas”.”

The IDF has completed pulling all of its ground forces out of the Gaza Strip to a defensive deployment.

Initial reports Wednesday night suggested that both sides agreed to an extension of the 72-hour cease-fire, at Cairo-brokered talks.

Netanyahu said the army pullback was commenced “only after it was clear the tunnel threat had been destroyed,” and added that “additional forces will remain in Gaza area to better protect” thousands of residents in dozens of towns, villages and farms ringing the coastal enclave.

Israel, the PM said, “will keep a beefed up IDF presence around communities near the Gaza border to provide enhanced defense.”

Calling the IDF a “great, moral army,” Netanyahu said he was “proud of it,” and thanked them “for protecting Israel with their bodies.”

Netanyahu screened a video clip from an Indian reporter and his film crew, showing rockets being fired from a civilian area near his hotel.

Saying “It’s an operational and moral mistake for Israel not to take action,” Netanyahu said inaction in dealing with the rocket threat “would hand a victory to terrorists.””

“ŽHamas, in the PM’s words, was “doing what Hezbollah, ISIS and Boko Haram are doing.” He said that Hamas exploits civilian deaths for public relations. “Can we accept a situation where terrorists are exonerated, and victims accused?” he asked, rhetorically.

Netanyahu said that foreign press now exiting leaving Gaza might be more likely to air damning footage of Hamas activities, and said that a “very important truth (would) come out.”

Hamas, the PM said, must be “prevented from rearming as part of Gaza’s general demilitarization,” and noted that “had Hamas accepted the same cease-fire proposal it accepted this week on July 15, there would have been 90 percent less lives lost.”

Squarely blaming the Islamist group for casualties in the four weeks of fighting, Netanyahu said that Israel goes “to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties, Hamas goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure civilian casualties.”

Noting a possible role for the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority in Gaza, Netanyahu said “we are cooperating with the (PA), and I am prepared to see a role for them” in Gaza.

“I spoke today with (US Secretary of State) John Kerry,” Netanyahu said. “We had a very good phone call and I thanked him for his statement about demilitarizing Gaza,” adding that Hamas must be “prevented from rearming as part of Gaza’s general demilitarization.”

Slamming Hamas’ cruelty, Netanyahu said “we opened a field hospital on our side, and you know what Hamas did? They prevented (Palestinians) from going there.”

“Stop sacrificing them,” he said, citing a “Palestinian Studies” report that charged that “at least 160 children were killed digging Hamas tunnels. “There is something fundamentally wrong here.”