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Netanyahu says Israel will have ‘overall security responsibility’ in Gaza after war Netanyahu says Israel will have ‘overall security responsibility’ in Gaza after war
(about 3 hours later)
Prime minister rules out general ceasefire as Israel marks a month since Hamas attackPrime minister rules out general ceasefire as Israel marks a month since Hamas attack
Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will have “overall security responsibility” in Gaza “for an indefinite period” after its war with Hamas. Israel will keep control over Gaza indefinitely after its war against Hamas ends, Benjamin Netanyahu has stated, saying his country will take “overall security responsibility” for the territory.
One month after Hamas’s attack killed 1,400 people, the Israeli prime minister also said he would consider “tactical little pauses” in fighting to allow the entry of aid or the exit of hostages from the Gaza Strip, but again rejected calls for a ceasefire. One month after Hamas’s attack killed 1,400 people, the Israeli prime minister also said he would consider hour-long “tactical little pauses” in fighting to allow the entry of aid or the exit of hostages from the Gaza Strip, but again rejected calls for a ceasefire.
Asked who should govern the territory after fighting ends, Netanyahu told ABC news in an interview broadcast on Monday night: “Israel will for an indefinite period … have the overall security responsibility [in Gaza] because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have that security responsibility.” Asked who should “govern” Gaza after fighting ends, Netanyahu told ABC News in an interview broadcast on Monday night: “Those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas.”
His comments offered the clearest indication yet that Israel plans to maintain control over the territory that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. He added: “Israel will for an indefinite period … have the overall security responsibility [in Gaza] because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have that security responsibility.”
Isreal’s military, which has encircled the densely populated Gaza City in the north of the territory where the Hamas Islamist group is based, said early on Tuesday that it had taken a militant compound and was set to attack fighters hiding in underground tunnels. His comments offered the clearest indication yet that Israel plans to keep a tight grip over the territory that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians.
On Monday in Jerusalem, Israelis held a vigil to mark 30 days since the Hamas attack, with a candle lit for each victim. The United Nations and other world bodies, including the EU, consider Gaza as occupied – despite Israel withdrawing its forces from inside the strip in 2005 – as it has maintained effective control over the small territory by land, sea and air.
Relatives of the dead gathered at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall where prayers were held marking the first month of grief, in line with Jewish tradition. “We don’t have other ways to commemorate them except with prayers, lighting candles, and having them in our heart,” Yossi Rivlin, whose two brothers were killed at a music festival massacre during the Hamas attack, told Agence France-Presse. Israel’s military re-entered Gaza last week and has encircled the densely populated Gaza City, where the Hamas Islamist group is hiding among civilians. The army said early on Tuesday that it had taken a Hamas compound and was poised to attack fighters hiding in underground tunnels.
Standing before a giant Israeli flag, the army’s chief cantor, Shai Abramson, gave a prayer for the dead, modified to include a blessing for security forces personnel who had died. The ceremony was the first religious commemoration organised at the Wailing Wall since 7 October. It was attended by Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet formed by Netanyahu after the Hamas attacks. Health officials in Gaza said at least 23 Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes early on Tuesday in southern Gaza – areas to where Israel has told civilians to flee.
Since the Hamas raid on southern Israel on 7 October, when its fighters killed 1,400 people and seized 240 hostages, Israel has bombarded the enclave in an assault that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, including about 4,100 children. In the city of Khan Younis, a man rescued from the rubble of a house where medics said 11 people had been killed warned that Israel would be “taught a very tough lesson”.
“This is the bravery of the so-called Israel, they show their might and power against civilians, babies inside, kids inside, and elderly,” the man told reporters.
On Tuesday, a month since Hamas’s attack in southern Israel, people held a minute of standing silence across Israel to commemorate the victims.
The night before, a vigil in Jerusalem was held, with a candle lit for each victim.
Relatives of the dead gathered at Jerusalem’s Western Wall where prayers were held marking the first month of grief, in line with Jewish tradition. “We don’t have other ways to commemorate them except with prayers, lighting candles, and having them in our heart,” Yossi Rivlin, whose two brothers were killed at a music festival massacre during the Hamas attack.
Standing before a giant Israeli flag, the army’s chief cantor, Shai Abramson, gave a prayer for the dead, modified to include a blessing for security forces personnel who had died.
Retaliating to the Hamas raid, in which fighters seized 240 hostages, Israel has bombarded the enclave in an assault that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, including about 4,100 children.
Both Israel and Hamas have rebuffed mounting calls for a halt in fighting. Israel says hostages should be released first. Hamas says it will neither free them nor stop fighting while Gaza is under assault.Both Israel and Hamas have rebuffed mounting calls for a halt in fighting. Israel says hostages should be released first. Hamas says it will neither free them nor stop fighting while Gaza is under assault.
Netanyahu said a general ceasefire would hamper his country’s war effort, but pausing fighting for humanitarian reasons, an idea supported by Israel’s top ally, the US, would continue to be considered based on circumstances. Rights groups and UN experts have accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes. The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, began a five-day visit to the Middle East on Tuesday, although he had still not secured permission from Israel to visit.
“As far as tactical little pauses – an hour here, an hour there – we’ve had them before. I suppose we’ll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods, to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave,” Netanyahu told ABC News. “But I don’t think there’s going to be a general ceasefire.” “It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair,” Turk said in a statement. “Human rights violations are at the root of this escalation and human rights play a central role in finding a way out of this vortex of pain.”
The US president, Joe Biden, discussed such pauses and possible hostage releases in a phone call with Netanyahu on Monday, reiterating his support for Israel while emphasising it must protect civilians, the White House said. Like Israel, Washington fears Hamas would take advantage of a full ceasefire to regroup.
International organisations have said hospitals cannot cope with the wounded and food and clean water are running out with aid deliveries nowhere near enough. “We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now,” said a statement from the heads of several United Nations bodies on Monday.
On Monday, the Israeli military released video of tanks moving through bombed-out streets and groups of troops moving on foot. It says it has surrounded Gaza City, cutting off northern parts of the narrow coastal strip from the south.
In a press briefing, the chief military spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, said troops were hunting Hamas field-level commanders. “Eliminating the Hamas field command significantly undermines [its] capabilities to carry out counterattacks,” Hagari said.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children”, calling for an urgent ceasefire.The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children”, calling for an urgent ceasefire.
International organisations have said Gaza’s hospitals cannot cope with the wounded, and food and clean water are running out with aid deliveries nowhere near enough. “We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now,” said a statement from the heads of several United Nations bodies.
On Monday, the Israeli military released video of tanks moving through bombed-out streets and groups of troops moving on foot. It says it has surrounded Gaza City, cutting off northern parts of the narrow coastal strip from the south.
The UN security council met behind closed doors on Monday. The 15-member body is still trying to agree a resolution after failing four times in two weeks to take action. Diplomats said a key obstacle was whether to call for a ceasefire, cessation of hostilities or humanitarian pauses to allow aid access in Gaza.The UN security council met behind closed doors on Monday. The 15-member body is still trying to agree a resolution after failing four times in two weeks to take action. Diplomats said a key obstacle was whether to call for a ceasefire, cessation of hostilities or humanitarian pauses to allow aid access in Gaza.
When asked on Monday if there had been any talks at the UN yet about what might happen in Gaza once the fighting stopped, the deputy US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told reporters: “Obviously there is concern about what happens the day after, but we’re not at that point.”When asked on Monday if there had been any talks at the UN yet about what might happen in Gaza once the fighting stopped, the deputy US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told reporters: “Obviously there is concern about what happens the day after, but we’re not at that point.”
Israel said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to a barrage of rockets fired at northern Israeli cities. The Israeli military said it detected about 30 launches from Lebanon in an hour. Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
The Iran-backed Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces across the Lebanese-Israeli frontier since the Israel-Hamas war began on 7 October, in the worst fighting there since Hezbollah and Israel fought a war in 2006.
Hamas said it had launched 16 missiles towards Nahariyya and southern Haifa in Israel.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse