After speaking with Biden, Netanyahu rebuts calls for a war end.
As Israeli forces invaded a major hospital in the besieged enclave of Gaza, Palestinian physicians fought to save patients. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resisted mounting international pressure to stop the four-month-old conflict in the Gaza Strip.
During his phone conversation with President Biden on Friday, Netanyahu made it clear that he does not support current diplomatic efforts to end the war by formally recognising a Palestinian state. This would provide the Palestinian leadership with a much-needed symbolic victory.
According to Netanyahu, the government claims that the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed roughly 1,200 people, was the deadliest in the nation’s history. He stated that any such endeavor would be perceived as a reward for the Hamas militants responsible for the massacre.
The unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state would remain opposed by Israel, according to Netanyahu’s X post.
There is mounting pressure on Netanyahu and his right-wing government to cooperate with other world leaders in order to cease the war in Gaza quickly, but they have resisted. In response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s pleas for Israel to refrain from attacking Rafah, Netanyahu stated on Wednesday that the city on the southern border of the strip, where over 1.3 million Palestinians are currently seeking refuge, must be liberated from Hamas.
Following the release of civilians from combat zones, he promised on X that “we will fight until complete victory.” This would include a strong move in Rafah.
Gaza health officials report that over 28,000 Palestinians, primarily children and women, have lost their lives since Israel initiated the war in reaction to the attack on October 7th. There is no differentiation between militants and combatants in the figure. Since the ground operation in Gaza began in late October, at least 235 Israeli troops have killed.
Israeli forces have been engaged in a fierce conflict with Hamas in an effort to terminate the 17-year rule of the Gaza Strip and rescue the approximately 130 captives taken on October 7th, who are reportedly being held captive by Palestinian militants within the enclave. According to Israel’s confidential estimations, as many as fifty hostages may have already died.
Israel claimed to have intelligence suggesting that the main hospital in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, had been holding hostages abducted by Hamas and that the bodies of some of them could be on the hospital grounds. As a result, Israeli forces invaded the hospital as part of their search for detainees.
The 350-bed Nasser Hospital in Gaza lost power on Friday, according to health officials, and four patients died as a consequence. The hospital also lost oxygen supply. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, three newborn unit infants and six additional intensive care unit patients were in danger due to the power outage. No comment was immediately given by the Israeli military.
Israeli military officials did not specify how they connected the Palestinians to the October 7th incident, but they did state that a “precise and limited” operation at the hospital resulted in the custody of 20 militants. The military published a photo of what it claimed to be many mortar rounds and grenades discovered within the hospital grounds. The hospital was allegedly utilized as a hostage-taking facility, although no evidence to back up this claim was disclosed.
Raids on Nasser Hospital occur when world leaders fail to make progress in ending the war. Reviving discussions to free Palestinian captives in Israeli prisons and end bloodshed in Gaza is a priority for the United States, which is attempting to free hostages held in Gaza.
Allegedly, in an attempt to resolve the impasse, CIA Director William Burns met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad chief David Barnea in Israel on Thursday.
In an effort to rescue their loved ones, the relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are increasing the pressure on Netanyahu to reach a compromise.
The release of all the captives can only be achieved through diplomatic efforts and a deal, according to Nadav Rudaeff, whose father is reportedly being held in Gaza. “I solemnly demand the return of my father and every other hostage.”
With his description of Hamas’s demands as “delusional,” Netanyahu has cast doubt on the possibility of an accord. Israel is gearing up for a massive military attack on Rafah, the southernmost city in the enclave, where over a million Palestinians have sought sanctuary, as part of its campaign to exert pressure on Hamas.
In his conversation with Netanyahu, Biden restated his belief that Israel should delay launching the ground invasion until it takes measures to evacuate civilians from danger. The Israeli government is considering relocating Gazan residents from Rafah to the heart of the Strip and establishing new tent towns there. The Israeli government is hoping that the United States and Arab nations will back its plan.
