The leaders in charge of directing Israel’s war in Gaza defiantly vowed Saturday to soldier on with the grinding military offensive aimed at vanquishing the Hamas terror group, pushing back at international pressure to slow down or halt it, and pledging to “stand firm against the world if necessary.”
In a joint press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz rejected mounting international criticism over the civilian costs of the war, urging Western leaders to throw their support behind the Jewish state since its victory would mean victory for the entire free world as well.
Netanyahu bluntly slammed French President Emmanuel Macron over remarks he made a day earlier, and also indicated that Israel would oppose the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza following the war — reportedly a goal sought by Washington — lambasting it as an entity that educates children to want to eliminate Israel, supports terrorism and hasn’t condemned Hamas’s October 7 massacres, which sparked the ongoing war.
The pushback came after several countries over the weekend expressed concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation and the civilian casualties in the Strip.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged for more to be done to protect civilians in Gaza and ensure humanitarian aid reaches them, saying that “far too many Palestinians have been killed” during the war.
And French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that there was “no justification” for Israel’s alleged bombing of “these babies, these ladies, these old people,” reiterating his call for a ceasefire in Gaza and telling the BBC: “There is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop.”
In the Saturday evening press conference, Netanyahu urged worldwide backing for his opposition to a ceasefire that doesn’t include a return of the hundreds of hostages being held in Gaza by Palestinian terrorists, and called on Americans to join the demand for the destruction of Hamas, which he said poses a danger to them too. He charged that most Americans share that realization.
He noted that in some countries, there are those who are pressuring the leaders to push for a ceasefire, an apparent reference to mass pro-Palestinian demonstrations calling for such a move, such as a mass rally Saturday in London.
“Don’t cave to the pressure,” Netanyahu said. “Our war is your war. Israel has to win for its own sake and for the world.”
In any case, “no international pressure, no false allegations about IDF soldiers and our state,” he said, will impact Israel’s insistence on protecting itself.
Israel will “stand firm against the world if necessary,” Netanyahu asserted.
Addressing Macron’s criticism, Netanyahu said: “He made a serious mistake, factually and morally. It’s Hamas preventing the evacuation of civilians, not Israel.”
“Israel tells them to leave,” Netanyahu stressed, explaining that Hamas, not Israel, has fired on the humanitarian corridor set up for northern Gazans to evacuate, and that Hamas is using the civilians as human shields.
“It’s not Israel that locates itself in hospitals, in schools, in UNRWA and UN facilities — it’s Hamas. Therefore, it is not Israel but Hamas that is responsible for harm to civilians,” Netanyahu argued.
2 comments:
I see a needed military maneuver by a superior well armed force, I don't see any Devine intervention.
Then you havent read Isaiah 17 nor Ezekiel 38.
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