Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday rejected international pressure to rein in its military campaign in Gaza and spoke at a Holocaust memorial, asserting Israel’s right to fight its “genocidal enemies.” ” mine.
Nearly seven months into the war, Mr. Netanyahu remains steadfast in his goal of destroying Hamas. This, combined with Mr. Netanyahu’s insistence on sending troops into Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip, has complicated efforts to end the fighting and raised concerns about the future of hostages held by Hamas. arrest.
But Mr. Netanyahu still refused.
On Sunday, he spoke at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, to mark national Holocaust remembrance day. Hamas’ October 7 attack was not a “Holocaust,” he said — not because Hamas did not intend to destroy Israel but because it did not have the capacity to do so. Israeli authorities said about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage that day. Mr. Netanyahu said that Hamas’s intentions were the same as those of Nazi Germany.
In his speechLasting about 15 minutes and mostly in Hebrew, Netanyahu denied that Israel was committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. Since the start of the war, Gaza authorities say Israeli troops have killed more than 34,000 people, many of them women and children, although statistics do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Netanyahu said that the Israeli military does everything possible to avoid harm to civilians and that it has allowed aid to flow through Gaza to avoid a humanitarian crisis. A United Nations official recently said areas in Gaza are experiencing “famine raged.”
Mr. Netanyahu made his point by saying a few words in English aimed at the international community. He invoked the Holocaust to assert Israel’s right to defend itself, with or without international support.
“If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone,” he said. “But we know we are not alone because there are countless kind people around the world who support our cause. And I tell you, we will defeat our genocidal enemies. Never again is now!
On Monday morning after his speech, the Israeli military gave its strongest signal yet that it would invade Rafah by ordering tens of thousands of Gazans to evacuate the city.
