Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas” on Sunday, August 10. He is speaking to foreign media in Jerusalem and defending a planned military offensive amid international condemnation of his plans. His address comes just before the United Nations Security Council holds an emergency meeting on Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza City.
Netanyahu said that “our goal is not to occupy Gaza, our goal is to free Gaza.” He is also pushing back against what he calls a “global campaign of lies” as condemnation of the plan grows both inside and outside Israel. He said there is a “fairly short timetable” in mind for next steps in Gaza. The goals there, he said, include demilitarizing Gaza, the Israeli military having “overriding security control” there and a non-Israeli civilian administration in charge.
The prime minister also said he had directed Israel’s military in recent days to “bring in more foreign journalists” – which would be a striking development as they have not been allowed into Gaza beyond military embeds.
Netanyahu again blamed many of Gaza’s problems on the Hamas militant group, including civilian deaths, destruction and shortages of aid.
More Palestinians killed as they seek aid in Gaza
At least 26 Palestinians were killed while seeking aid in the Gaza Strip, hospitals and witnesses said, as families of Israeli hostages called for a general strike to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to expand military operations in the territory.
Hospital officials said they received bodies from areas where Palestinians were seeking aid – either along food convoy routes or near privately run aid distribution points across Gaza. The dead include 10 who were killed while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor which separates the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, said Nasser hospital.
A further six people were killed while waiting for aid in northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Shifa hospital in Gaza City which received the casualties.
Israel’s plan risks ‘another calamity,’ says UN
A UN official on Sunday warned the Security Council that Israel’s plans to control Gaza City risked “another calamity” with far-reaching consequences as Netanyahu insisted his goal was not to occupy the territory.
The UN Security Council held a rare emergency weekend meeting after Israel said its military would “take control” of Gaza City. “If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction,” UN Assistant Secretary Miroslav Jenca told the UNSC.
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Slovenia’s ambassador to the UN Samuel Zbogar, speaking on behalf of the five European members of the Security Council ahead of the meeting, said “this decision by the Israeli government will do nothing to secure the return of the hostages and risk further endangering their lives.” “It will also worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and risk further death and mass displacement of Palestinian civilians.”
Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said Friday that “this escalation by the Israeli government is going in total contradiction to the will of the international community.”
The United States, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, is likely to seek to shield its staunch ally Israel from any practical measure of UN censure.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said ahead of the meeting “Israel will not stop fighting for the release of all the hostages – and ensuring the safety and security of our citizens is our duty.”
