Israel will not agree to ceasefire as it would be a ‘surrender to Hamas and terrorism’ – Netanyahu
Israel will not agree to a ceasefire as it would be equivalent to surrendering to Hamas and terrorism, Benjamin Nethanyu has said.
The Israeli prime minister said his country would not stop military activity “just as the United States would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or the terrorist attack of 9/11”.
Mr Netanyahu gave a news conference this evening as Israel’s troops push deeper into Gaza, with the country’s chief military spokesperson warning operations in the territory will “escalate”.
The prime minister condemned the “barbarians” of Hamas for trying to destroy the “promise” of Israel’s future.
Mr Netanyahu also urged the world not to “surrender to tyranny and terror”.
“Israel did not start this war. Israel did not want this war. But Israel will win this war,” he added.
Follow live: Hamas releases hostage video
Hamas “raped women” and “beheaded men” during their surprise attack on 7 October, he added. He described their actions as the “most horrific crimes imaginable”.
“Israel is fighting the enemies of civilisation itself,” he said.
In a plea for sympathy from the international community, the Israeli leader said a distinction must be drawn between Hamas’s “deliberate targeting” of civilians and the “unintentional” casualties of Israel’s strikes in response.
“Hamas is doing everything to keep Palestinian civilians in harm’s way,” Mr Netanyahu added as he claimed the militant group has been using people in Gaza as human shields.
He also claimed Hamas fighters had been holding Palestinians at gunpoint to prevent them from leaving certain areas.
The Israeli leader also said Hamas is preventing foreign nationals from leaving Gaza.
The aftermath of an Israeli strike near Al Quds hospital in Gaza City
‘This is time for war’
Mr Netanyahu said Israel has been “going out of our way” not to kill civilians in its attacks on Gaza.
He also said that “even the most just wars have unintended civilian casualties”.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel during the conflict which broke out on 7 October, official Israeli sources have said.
Meanwhile, more than 8,300 people have been killed in Gaza in Israel’s retaliatory strikes on the territory, the Hamas-led health ministry has said.
Mr Netanyahu closed his speech by saying: “The Bible says that there is a time for peace and a time for war.
“This is a time for war, a war for a common future. Today, we draw a line between the forces of civilisation and the forces of barbarism.
“It is a time for everyone to decide where they stand. Israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until victory. I hope and pray that civilised nations everywhere will back this fight.
“Because Israel’s fight is your fight. Because if Hamas and Iran’s axis of evil win, you will be their next target.
“That’s why Israel’s victory will be your victory.”
Mr Netanyahu was also asked about reports his support among the Israeli people has fallen considerably since Hamas’s attack took the country’s intelligence agency by surprise.
Asked if he would step down, the Israeli leader said: “The only thing that I intend to have resigned is Hamas. We’re going to resign them to the dustbin of history.
“That’s my goal. That’s my responsibility. That’s what I’m leading the country to do. This is my responsibility now. And it’s something that I think unites the entire country.”
Young Palestinians walk in front of a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes
Numerous Israeli tanks are seen gathered in southern Israel as the country prepares to extend its military operations in Gaza
Tank ‘fires at car’ in Gaza
Meanwhile, Palestinian sources in Gaza have told Sky News that Israeli tanks are at Netzarim junction on the Salah Al Din road, the main highway which spans the entire length of the territory.
Gaza journalist Samy Zyara added that the territory is now split in two with people unable to travel between the north and south on the route.
Another Gaza journalist has shared a video with Sky News which shows a tank open fire on a car at the Netzarim junction which is in the north of the territory.
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Moment tank fires at car in central Gaza
Yousaf Al Saifi said: “I saw the family in the car. They struck [the car] with a shell and they died. We saw it with our own eyes.”
It comes as Israel continues to pound Gaza, with residents on Monday reporting dozens of air strikes in the east of the territory.
Earlier today, Hamas released a video of three women who were among the more than 200 people taken hostage during the 7 October attacks.
Mr Netanyahu condemned the video as “cruel psychological propaganda”.
The women’s families have since appealed urgently for their release.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also confirmed an Israeli soldier had been freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza in a ground operation on Monday.
World
‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high
At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.
The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.
Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.
Ten children were reportedly killed when Israel attacked near a clinic on Thursday. Pic: AP
The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.
Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.
Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.
“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.
The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.
It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.
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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.
The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
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In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.
A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.
The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.
The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.
Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.
The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.
“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.
“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”
Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.
Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.
Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.
“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.
The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.
Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.
It said three children and their mother were among the dead.
Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.
On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.
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Do Trump and Netanyahu really get along?
Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.
A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.
People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.
Read more:
IDF chief says conditions ‘created’ for Gaza ceasefire
What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal ?
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Lack of food and water ‘lethal’ for Gaza children
Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.
A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.
However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.
Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.
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