Benjamin Netanyahu
On Tuesday, Israel bombarded Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared there could be no peace until its Hamas rulers are destroyed and Palestinian society is deradicalized.
As intensive ground warfare continued, the army said it had struck more than 100 targets in 24 hours, including military sites and tunnel shafts in central Jabalia and Khan Yunis in the south.
The ferocious military campaign launched in response to the Hamas attacks on October 7 has resulted in mass civilian losses, severe famine, and the destruction of much of the coastal land.
The United Nations World Health Organization reported harrowing stories of entire families being killed during Christmas Eve strikes on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza’s central region.
Global concern has grown and international calls for a ceasefire have intensified, but Netanyahu vowed to stick to his gun.
“Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized and Palestinian society must be deradicalized”, Netanyahu noted.
Netanyahu went on to say, “These are the three prerequisites for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in Gaza”.
He stated that until the fighting ceases, “Israel will have to retain overriding security responsibility over Gaza and establish a temporary security zone on the territory’s perimeter for the foreseeable future”.
Netanyahu had previously visited Israeli troops in Gaza, after which he reportedly told a meeting of his conservative Likud party that “we’re not stopping… We will step up the fighting”.
On October 7, Hamas launched an offensive on southern Israel, killing around 1,140 people, the majority of whom were civilians. They kidnapped 250 people, 129 of whom are still in Gaza.
Israel launched a massive aerial bombardment, a siege, and a ground invasion.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, the campaign has killed 20,674 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children.
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