AFP Videos – France
Israeli Prime Minister Unyielding, No Letup in Gaza War
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned he will not bow to pressure to reach a deal to free the hostages in Gaza, saying he wants to maintain military pressure on Hamas, in the 11th month of the war. The hostages were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 against Israel, which led to Israeli reprisals that left tens of thousands dead in the besieged Palestinian territory, which was targeted by new deadly strikes on Tuesday. It was the announcement by the Israeli army on Sunday that six hostages had been found in a Gaza tunnel, which it said were killed at “point-blank range” by Hamas, which increased the pressure on Mr. Netanyahu and amplified the mobilization in Israel. Demonstrations bringing together thousands of people took place in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, accompanied by a strike in several cities to demand a deal to free the hostages still held in Gaza. After publicly asking for “forgiveness for not having brought back alive” the six hostages found dead, Mr. Netanyahu accused Hamas of having “executed” them with a “bullet in the back of the head” and vowed to make the Islamist movement pay “a very high price.” I will not give in to pressure,” he hammered home. “No one is more committed than me to the release of the hostages. (…) Now we must exert maximum pressure on Hamas,” which “must make concessions.” – “In coffins” – In this context, Mr. Netanyahu reaffirmed the need for Israel to maintain control of a corridor along the border between Gaza and Egypt, a sticking point in the negotiations under the aegis of the mediators – the United States, Qatar, Egypt – with a view to a truce agreement associated with the release of hostages. “Control of the Philadelphia corridor guarantees that the hostages would not be smuggled out of Gaza,” Mr. Netanyahu argued. Hamas is demanding Israeli withdrawal from this corridor, taken by Israeli forces last May, and ultimately Israel’s total withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Egypt has at the same time rejected accusations that its border with Gaza was used to transport weapons for Hamas, accusing Mr Netanyahu of seeking to “distract Israeli public opinion and obstruct the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement”. On Monday evening, the spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, Abu Obeida, warned that the hostages still held in Gaza would be returned “in coffins” if Israel continued its military pressure “instead of reaching an agreement”. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday called for an “independent” investigation into the “summary execution” of the six hostages. – “Never agree” – Mr Netanyahu “wants to occupy Gaza indefinitely (…) Israel will never return territory that it needs for its security”, Mairav Zonszein, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, told AFP on Tuesday. “He basically said there would never be a deal on the hostages.” US President Joe Biden, whose country is Israel’s main ally, himself criticized the Israeli prime minister for not doing enough to get a deal on the hostages. Mr. Netanyahu says he wants to continue the war until the destruction of Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007 and is considered a terrorist movement by the United States and the European Union. The attack carried out by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza into southern Israel on October 7, resulted in the death of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza, including 33 declared dead by the army. In response, Israel launched a major offensive in Gaza which has so far killed at least 40,819 people, according to Hamas’s health ministry, causing a humanitarian and health disaster and the displacement of almost all of the 2.4 million inhabitants. The majority of the dead are women and minors, according to the UN. – Deadly strikes in Gaza – Taking advantage of “humanitarian pauses” of three days each, an anti-polio campaign was launched Sunday in central Gaza with the aim of vaccinating more than 640,000 children under the age of ten throughout the territory. The campaign is going “well”, said Rik Peeperkorn, an official with the World Health Organization. The total number of children under the age of ten vaccinated so far is 161,000, according to him. There are still “at least 10 days” left for this first round of vaccination, continued Mr. Peeperkorn. The campaign is expected to move to the south of the territory on Thursday with the aim of vaccinating some 340,000 children, and then to the north to vaccinate another 150,000. Meanwhile, the Israeli offensive in Gaza continues unabated. In the south, two Palestinians were killed when a shell hit a tent for displaced people in Khan Younis, according to the civil defense. In the center, a strike targeted a house near Al-Bureij and artillery fire targeted Nusseirat. In the north, two people were killed and around 30 injured, some seriously, in an Israeli bombardment on a school in northern Gaza City, according to the civil defense. According to the Israeli army, the strike targeted a Hamas command center on a site that previously housed a school. The army is also continuing for the seventh consecutive day its “anti-terrorist” operation in the northern occupied West Bank where at least 27 people have been killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.bur/tp/vl/hme
