Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday (November 7) struck a defiant tone in a televised address marking one month of war between Israel and Hamas. He reiterated his assertive position, largely unchanged since the hostilities broke out after the Hamas attack on October 7. During his speech, Netanyahu again ruled out the possibility of a ceasefire and said that delivery of fuel in the besieged Gaza Strip would not take place until Hamas released all hostages in its custody.
Netanyahu also had a warning for Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group. The Israeli PM said that if Hezbollah opens a new front in the ongoing conflict, “it will be making the mistake of its life”.
Israel has already deployed tanks along its border with Lebanon and has exchanged fire with Hezbollah fighters.
Hamas fighter crossed border and entered Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 to initiate a massive attack that Israel says resulted in deaths of at least 1400 people. Hamas seized more than 240 hostages.
Watch | Israel-Hamas war: Fate of captives uncertain as war drags on
Israel has since then responded with overwhelming and withering attacks inside Gaza which have involved air raids and ground attacks by tanks and troops. Hamas-run health ministry has said that death toll in the Palestinian enclave has exceeded 10,300.
Calls for ceasefire grow
Gaza Strip is home to some 2.4 million people and large-scale civilian casualties have resulted in growing clamour from around the world for a humanitarian ceasefire. The United Nations has made repeated appeals for this. World Health Organization (WHO) has said that an average of 160 children are dying in Gaza every day.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has demanded an end to suffering of common people and expecially children.
“Children have been ripped from their families and held hostage. In Gaza, ICRC surgeons treat toddlers whose skin is charred from widespread burns,” the organisation’s president Mirjana Spoljaric said.
“This is a moral failing,” she added.
The ICRC said on Tuesday that one of its humanitarian convoys came under attack inside Gaza but it eventually was able to deliver medical supplies to the hospital.
The United States, Israel’s most prominent global backer has so far supported its retaliation against Hamas but on Tuesday, it said that it does not support the ‘reoccupation’ of Gaza by Israel.
“Generally speaking, we do not support the reoccupation of Gaza and neither does Israel,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.
“Our viewpoint is that Palestinians must be at the forefront of these decisions and Gaza is Palestinian land and it will remain Palestinian land,”
(With inputs from agencies)
