After almost a month of war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again rejected, on Monday, November 6, the idea of ??a lasting cessation of IDF military operations in the Gaza Strip, and exposed his vision of maintaining security in the Palestinian enclave at the end of the conflict.
“There will be no comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza without the release of our hostages,” he said in an interview on the American channel ABC News, while the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, called on Monday to put an end to “the humanitarian nightmare in Gaza” which had become “a cemetery for children”.
“There will be a ceasefire if Hamas agrees to release the hostages,” Mr. Netanyahu repeated during this interview, explaining that he believed, however, that this “would hinder the war effort” and efforts to get the hostages out “because the only thing that works on these Hamas criminals is the military pressure we exert.”
He nevertheless opened the door to “tactical breaks” – “an hour here, an hour there” –, in reference to a White House statement according to which US President Joe Biden had discussed this possibility with it, “to provide civilians with opportunities to safely leave combat zones, ensure that aid reaches those in need, and enable the potential release of hostages.”
“We have already done this in the past, and we will verify the circumstances in order to allow goods, humanitarian products to enter, or our hostages, individual hostages to leave,” explained the Israeli prime minister.
Personal responsibility incurred
Asked who should provide security in the Palestinian enclave after the war, Benjamin Netanyahu replied: “Those who do not want to continue on the path of Hamas. »
“Israel will, for an indefinite period, assume overall responsibility for security because we have seen what happens when we don’t have it. When we do not have this responsibility, we see the irruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we could not imagine,” he explained.
Mr Netanyahu admitted that his government had “clearly” failed to uphold its obligation to protect the Israeli people and that he was personally responsible for Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7: “Of course, that doesn’t make doubt and this must be resolved after the war. » “There are going to be some extremely tough questions to ask and I will be one of the first to answer them,” he promised.
Since October 7, more than 1,400 people have died in Israel according to the authorities, mostly civilians killed on the day of the Hamas attack, the deadliest in the history of the Jewish state. Hamas also took more than 240 hostages to Gaza. According to the report of the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian territory, where Hamas has been in power since 2007, Israeli bombings in retaliation have left more than 10,000 dead, the majority civilians including more than 4,000 children.
