Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the US would do “much more” after a terror attack, when questioned about the rising number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
‘What would America do?’ Netanyahu said this on Sunday on ‘Face the Nation’. ‘Wouldn’t you do what Israel does? You would do a lot more.’
More than four months after the October 7 attacks, the death toll in Gaza is approaching 30,000, after terrorists in Israel killed about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that Hamas is on “another planet” with the negotiations, but added that Israel is “working on it” and aims to free the remaining hostages.
He said seeing the release of the remaining hostages is part of his three goals, which he outlined again on Sunday.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that Hamas is on “another planet” with the negotiations, but added that Israel is “working on it” and aims to free the remaining hostages.
Smoke rises after the Israeli bombardment of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday
He noted that the other goals are to “destroy Hamas” and “ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.”
“Unless we achieve total victory, we cannot have peace,” Netanyahu added.
The Biden administration and Netanyahu have been at odds over the best path forward in recent weeks, as the US president called for Palestinian rule in Gaza and a two-state solution as a long-term plan, which the Israeli government opposes.
Last week, Israel rejected the ‘unilateral’ recognition of a Palestinian state.
It said the decision should be reached through direct negotiations.
Netanyahu urged the vote on Sunday. He said that “the Israeli people are united as never before,” while arguing that “the policy is right.”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has announced new plans to build more than 3,300 homes in West Bank settlements, following a deadly car shooting near the Maale Adumim settlement that killed one Israeli and injured five .
The Biden administration said on Friday that the plan violates international law, marking a return to long-standing US policy on the issue that was reversed by the previous administration of Donald Trump.
‘They are also contrary to international law. “Our administration remains firmly opposed to settlement expansion, and in our view this only weakens, not strengthens, Israel’s security,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.
He said the United States was “disappointed” in Israel’s announcement of the housing plans because they were counterproductive to achieving lasting peace.
The Biden administration and Netanyahu have been at odds in recent weeks over the best path forward, with the US president calling for Palestinian rule in Gaza and a two-state solution as a long-term plan, which the Israeli government opposes
Destroyed Palestinian homes in the Al Nusairat refugee camp, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday
Biden has in recent weeks called on the Israeli prime minister not to launch an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, where some 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge from the conflict.
Biden has urged Israel on several occasions not to proceed unless there is a “credible” plan to maintain the safety of the people seeking refuge there.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that once the Rafah operation is launched, “the intense phase of the fighting is still weeks away from completion.”
He said he has met with officials about a plan to evacuate Palestinians from Rafah and that Israel has “gone to great lengths to inform people in Gaza of upcoming bombings more broadly.”
“We will remove them from the danger zone, we will get the job done and achieve total victory, which is necessary to provide a secure future for Israel, a better future for Gaza and a better future for the Middle East,” he said. .
Biden sensationally called Netanyahu “a son of a bitch” at least three times and called him the main obstacle to peace in the Middle East, according to a shocking report released earlier this month.
His alleged insults came as the US was drawn further into war and conflict in the Middle East.
A source close to the president told NBC News that Biden felt Netanyahu was “giving him hell” over the ceasefire negotiations.
Palestinians wait for humanitarian aid on Sunday at a beach in Gaza City, Gaza Strip
‘He just feels like this is enough. It has to stop,” another source told the channel. The aging Democrat regularly refers to Netanyahu as “this guy” and has called him a “son of a bitch” three times.
The Israeli military has proposed a plan to evacuate civilians from the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu’s office announced today, after he said a ground invasion of the southern Palestinian city of Rafah was necessary for a “total victory.”
Foreign governments and aid agencies have repeatedly expressed fears that such an operation would cause massive civilian casualties.
More than 1.4 million Palestinians – most of them displaced from elsewhere – have converged on the last city in Gaza untouched by Israel’s ground forces.
It is also the entry point for much-needed aid, which arrives through neighboring Egypt.
The Israeli army “handed over to the war cabinet a plan for the evacuation of the population from the conflict areas in the Gaza Strip, and with the upcoming operational plan,” a statement in Hebrew from Netayahu’s office said today.
The statement did not provide details on how or where the civilians would be moved.
The announcement comes after Egyptian, Qatari and American ‘experts’ met in Doha for talks also attended by representatives of Israel and Hamas, state-linked Egyptian media reported, the latest attempt to broker a ceasefire before the Islamic holy month Ramadan.
The United States said ongoing mediation efforts had produced “an agreement” toward a ceasefire and the release of hostages, while a Hamas source said the group was pushing for the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
A child is trapped as Palestinians hold up their empty containers to be filled with food distributed by charity organizations behind bars as they are unable to obtain basic food supplies due to the embargo imposed on Sunday by Israeli forces in Rafah, Gaza
But Netanyahu – who has dismissed demands for withdrawal as “delusional” – said a ground invasion of Rafah would put Israel within weeks of a “total victory” over Hamas, whose October 7 attack sparked the war.
“If we have a ceasefire agreement, it will be delayed a bit, but it will happen,” he said of the ground invasion in the interview with CBS on Sunday.
“It must be done because total victory is our goal and total victory is within reach – not months or weeks later, once we begin the operation.”
Amid a widening humanitarian crisis, the main UN aid agency for Palestinians urged political action to prevent famine in Gaza.
Severe food shortages in northern Gaza are “a man-made disaster” that can be mitigated, says Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
“Famine can still be avoided through genuine political will to provide access and protection to meaningful aid.”
The UN has said restrictions are in place, especially on aid deliveries to northern Gaza.