By Patrick Kingsley, JERUSALEM
Israel
Striking a defiant tone at a rare news briefing on Monday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel ruled out a cease-fire in Gaza, dismissed calls for his resignation and rejected criticism of Israel’s strikes on civilian homes.
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| The IDF claimed several militants in the Gaza Strip were killed in Israeli raids of tunnels and civilian buildings |
Mr. Netanyahu’s political
opponents have called for him to resign over his failure to stop the attacks of
Oct. 7, when terrorists from Gaza raided Israel and killed more than 1,400
people.
Abroad, the conduct of the
Israeli counterattack on Gaza — which has killed more than 8,000 people,
according to the Hamas-run Gazan health ministry — has generated widespread
outcry, with humanitarian groups and the United Nations General Assembly calling
for a cease-fire.
Speaking to reporters in Tel
Aviv, Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel would not agree to a halt in attacks
because, he argued, it would strengthen Hamas, the group that controls Gaza and
led the attacks earlier this month.
“Just as the United States
would not agree to a cease-fire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the
terrorist attack of 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities
with Hamas after the horrific attacks of Oct. 7,” Mr. Netanyahu said, adding
that “calls for a cease-fire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to
surrender to terrorism.”
He then dismissed accusations
that Israel is collectively punishing more than two million Gazans for the
crimes of Hamas. Israel has cut off electricity, fuel and most food and water
supplies to Gaza, and its airstrikes have killed more than 3,000 children,
according to the Gazan health ministry.
On Sunday, António Guterres,
the U.N. secretary general, said the number of civilians killed in Gaza was
“totally unacceptable” and that “all parties must respect their obligations
under international humanitarian law.”
But Mr. Netanyahu said Israel
was doing what it could to save civilian lives. He cited Israel’s warning
civilians to move to southern Gaza, where there are fewer Israeli strikes.
“We’re going out of our way to
prevent civilian casualties,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
Israel said it hit 600 targets
in 24 hours, one of the most intense periods of bombing to date, and that a
missing woman soldier was rescued from Hamas inside Gaza.
The release of Private Ori
Megidish was “secured during a ground operation” inside Gaza the army said,
adding she was in Israel, reunited with family and was “doing well.”
Netanyahu has vowed the war
will “eliminate” Hamas, ensuring no possible repeat of the group’s attacks.
Israel has also promised to free the hostages taken by Hamas and other
Palestinian militant groups on October 7.
Israel’s campaign has
flattened thousands of buildings and Gaza’s 2.4 million residents are under
near continuous bombardment, with little access to water, food, fuel and other
essentials.
The United Nations has
repeatedly called for a humanitarian truce in the violence, which the Hamas-run
health ministry in Gaza claims has killed more than 8,000 people, many of them
children.
On Monday, the UN agency for
Palestinian refugees UNRWA said the limited number of aid trucks entering the
besieged territory were insufficient to meet the “unprecedented humanitarian
needs” there.
“Nearly 70 percent of those
reported killed are children and women,” said Philippe Lazzarini, who heads
UNRWA. “This cannot be ‘collateral damage.’“
Rizk Abu Rok, a 24-year-old
paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent, told AFP that transporting those
killed and wounded had become a daily routine.
But a recent strike on the Rio
Cafe in Khan Yunis added his father and several other relatives to the growing
toll.
“I found them all, one after
the other,” he said.
Israel has accused Hamas of
using hospitals as military headquarters and using civilians as “human
shields.”
But even Israel’s staunchest
allies have voiced concern about the dire humanitarian situation inside the
territory.
In Washington, the White House
has ruled out a permanent ceasefire — fearing it would only give Hamas time to
restock and regroup.
But National Security Council
spokesman John Kirby said “pauses” to allow aid into Gaza should be considered.
Limited aid has entered Gaza
from Egypt under a US-brokered deal, but its volume has fallen far short of the
hundreds of trucks a day aid agencies say are needed.
Israel said it is inspecting
cargo to make sure weapons are not being smuggled in, and is monitoring to
guarantee supplies are not seized by Hamas.
More than three weeks on,
Israelis are still trying to comprehend the events of October 7.
Still little is known about
the fate of the 230-plus hostages — aged between a few months and over 80 years
old — who are believed to be held in a network of Hamas tunnels under Gaza.
Hamas recently released a
video of what it claimed were three women hostages, seated against a tile wall.
The time and place of the
recording could not be verified, but one of the women called for Israel to
agree to Hamas’ demand to exchange the hostages for Palestinian prisoners held
by Israel.
Netanyahu in a statement
decried the clip as “cruel psychological propaganda.”
And even as Israel continues to be struck by daily rocket attacks from Gaza and Lebanon, Israelis have yet to account for all their missing and dead. - Agencies
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