GAZA/JERUSALEM, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would consider a “tactical pause” in the fighting in Gaza to facilitate the entry of aid and the evacuation of hostages. , again rejected calls for a total ceasefire despite mounting international pressure. .
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to destroy Gaza’s Hamas rulers, said in a US television interview that he believed Israel should assume security responsibility for the post-war Palestinian enclave “indefinitely”.
Asked about the possibility of a humanitarian cessation, which the United States, Israel’s biggest ally, also supports, Netanyahu said a total ceasefire would hamper his country’s war effort.
“As for tactical breaks – an hour here, an hour there – we have done that before. Materials, humanitarian supplies, or our hostages, personal hostages, leave,” Netanyahu said. the prime minister told ABC News on Monday.
“But I don’t think a total ceasefire will happen.”
Both Israel and the Hamas militants that control Gaza have rejected growing international pressure for a ceasefire. Israel says hostages taken by Hamas, who started an uprising in southern Israel on October 7, should be released first. Hamas insists it will not liberate Gaza or stop fighting while it is under attack.
Since the Hamas attack that killed 1,400 people and took more than 240 hostages in Israel, Israel has attacked Gaza from the air, laid siege to it, and launched ground attacks, raising global alarm over the humanitarian situation in the enclave. is causing it.
The Hamas-controlled enclave’s health ministry later announced that at least 10,022 Palestinians, including 4,104 children, had been killed.
International organizations said hospitals were unable to treat the injured, aid supplies were inadequate and food and clean water were in short supply.
“We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now,” said Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, including the World Health Organization. Heads of several United Nations agencies issued statements on Monday. Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UN Assistance Director Martin Griffiths.
The US government is working hard to arrange a moratorium on the conflict to allow aid to come in. But like Israel, Hamas insists it will use a complete ceasefire to regroup.
[1/8]On November 6, 2023, Israeli forces drop flares in Gaza City as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues.Reuters/Mohamed Al Masri Obtaining license rights
The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden discussed the suspension and the possibility of releasing hostages during a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, reiterating support for Israel and the need to protect civilians. He emphasized that.
“Children’s Graveyard”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday that Gaza was becoming a “graveyard for children” and called for an emergency ceasefire in the enclave.
Guterres told reporters: “Ground operations and continued shelling by the Israel Defense Forces are hitting civilians, UN facilities, including hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and shelters. No one is safe. No,” he said.
“At the same time, Hamas and other extremists continue to fire rockets indiscriminately at Israel, using civilians as human shields.”
The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors on Monday. The 15-member group is still aiming to agree on a resolution after failing to take action four times in two weeks. Diplomats said a key hurdle is whether to seek a ceasefire, cessation of hostilities or a humanitarian moratorium to allow aid access to Gaza.
Asked on Monday if there had been any talks at the United Nations about what would happen in Gaza after the fighting stopped, Robert Wood, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said: “Obviously there are concerns about what will happen the next day.” But we said: Not at that point.”
Asked in an ABC interview who should rule Gaza once the conflict ends, Netanyahu said: “I think Israel will rule Gaza indefinitely…We don’t know what would happen if there was no security.” “I think I will be responsible for overall security because I have seen it.” responsibility. “
President Joe Biden’s administration has notified the U.S. Congress that it plans to transfer $320 million in precision bombs to Israel, a person familiar with the plans said on Monday.
Israel announced on Monday that it had attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in retaliation for rockets fired at cities in northern Israel. The Israeli military said it detected about 30 missiles fired from Lebanon every hour.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces across the Lebanese-Israeli border since the Hamas-Israel war began on October 7, where Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006. This is the worst battle since then.
Hamas announced that it had fired 16 missiles toward the Israeli city of Nahariya and southern Haifa.
Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Emily Rose in Gaza, Patricia Zengerle in Washington and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations. Written by Daphne Psaledakis.Editing: Rami Ayyub, Cynthia Osterman
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