Israel will not agree to ceasefire as it would be a ‘surrender to Hamas and terrorism’, PM Netanyahu says

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 added that his country would not agree to a ceasefire “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 has been giving a news conference as Israel’s troops push deeper into Gaza, with the country’s chief military spokesperson warning the military operations in the territory will “escalate”.

He 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,” Mr Netanyahu said.

Follow live: Hamas releases hostage video

Hamas “raped women” and “beheaded men” during their 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 militants have been holding Palestinians at gunpoint to prevent them leaving certain areas. The Israeli leader also said Hamas is preventing foreign nationals from leaving Gaza.

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”.

“I hope and pray that civilised nations will back this fight,” he added.

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 Gaza 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 the north of the territory.

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.

The attacks are part of the response to a surprise incursion by Hamas militants who crossed over the border into Israel on 7 October – with the initial attack and subsequent rocket fire leaving more than 1,400 people dead in Israel, according to official Israeli sources.

More than 8,300 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza, the Hamas-led health ministry has said.

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 Israel Defence Forces (IDF) later confirmed an Israeli soldier had been freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza in a ground operation.