Netanyahu says Israel has ‘no choice’ but to continue fighting in Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH Gaza Strip AP Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated again Saturday that Israel has no choice but to continue fighting in Gaza and will not end the war before destroying Hamas freeing the hostages and ensuring that the territory won t present a threat to Israel The prime minister also repeated his vow to make sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon Netanyahu is under growing pressure at home not only from families of hostages and their supporters but also from reservist and retired Israeli soldiers who question the continuation of the war after Israel shattered a ceasefire last month In his declaration he claimed that Hamas has rejected Israel s latest proposal to free half the hostages for a continued ceasefire The prime minister spoke after Israeli strikes killed more than people in hours Gaza s Soundness Ministry disclosed Saturday Israeli troops have been increasing their attacks to pressure Hamas to release the hostages and disarm Children and women were among the people killed overnight according to hospital staff At least dead were in the southern city of Khan Younis several of them in a tent in the Muwasi area where hundreds of thousands of displaced people stay hospital workers disclosed Israel has designated it as a humanitarian zone Mourners cradled and kissed the faces of the dead A man stroked a child s forehead with his finger before body bags were closed Omar is gone I wish it was me one brother cried out Four other people were killed in strikes in Rafah city including a mother and her daughter according to the European Hospital where the bodies were taken Later on Saturday an Israeli airstrike on a group of civilians west of Nuseirat in central Gaza killed one person according to Al-Awda Hospital Israel s military in a comment announced it killed more than militants over the weekend Separately the military declared a soldier was killed Saturday in northern Gaza and proven it was the first soldier death since Israel resumed the war on March Hamas armed wing the Qassam Brigades noted it ambushed Israeli forces operating east of Gaza City s al-Tuffah neighborhood Israel has vowed to intensify attacks across Gaza and occupy indefinitely large protection zones inside the small coastal strip of over million people Hamas wants Israeli forces to withdraw from the territory Israel also has blockaded Gaza for the past six weeks again barring the entry of food and other goods This week aid groups raised the alarm saying thousands of children have become malnourished and majority of people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle according to the United Nations The head of the World Healthcare Organization s eastern Mediterranean office Dr Hanan Balkhy on Friday urged the new U S ambassador in Israel Mike Huckabee to push the country to lift Gaza s blockade so medicines and other aid can enter I would wish for him to go in and see the situation firsthand she mentioned The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct killing about people mostly civilians and abducting The greater part of the hostages have been published in ceasefire agreements or other deals Hamas at this time holds hostages of them thought to be alive Israel s offensive has since killed over Palestinians mostly women and children according to Gaza s Medical Ministry which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and the bulk of its food production capabilities Around of the population is displaced with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings Frustration has been growing on both sides with rare society protests against Hamas in Gaza and continued weekly rallies in Israel pressing the executive to reach a deal to bring all hostages home Thousands of Israelis joined protests Saturday night pressing for a deal Do what you should have done a long time ago Bring them all back now And in one deal And if this means to stop the war then stop the war former hostage Omer Shem Tov informed a rally in Tel Aviv Magdy released from Cairo and Federman from Jerusalem Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this account Follow AP s war coverage at https apnews com hub israel-hamas-war This story corrects the day the WHO official made comments Source
