Latest news with #securitycabinet
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Netanyahu defends Gaza City plan as UN warns of ‘calamity' and starvation
Benjamin Netanyahu has defended his plan to take control of Gaza City in the face of widespread international outrage, even as senior UN officials warned that the move risked unleashing 'another calamity' on a territory already experiencing 'starvation, pure and simple'. In a rare press conference with foreign journalists in Jerusalem, the Israeli prime minister said the plan, signed off last week by the security cabinet to criticism both at home and abroad, was 'the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily.' But during an emergency weekend session of the UN security council in New York, there were repeated warnings that rather than end the 22-month war, the move would exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation. 'If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction,' said UN assistant secretary general, Miroslav Jenca. Amid the heated rhetoric, Gaza's health ministry said that five more people, including two children, had died of malnutrition-related causes, bringing the number of children who have died from such causes to 100. Including adults, the total death toll from malnutrition stands at 217, the ministry says. Ramesh Rajasingham, Ocha's coordination director, told the security council meeting: 'This is no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation, pure and simple.' Israel has imposed a blockade and restrictions on aid entering the territory, but in his press conference Netanyahu said it was 'completely false' that his government was pursuing a 'starvation policy'. He acknowledged hunger, and problems with the food distribution system run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), but accused the media of 'lies' about the scale of the problem. A few hours before he spoke, at least 26 Palestinians were killed while seeking aid in Gaza, hospitals and witnesses said. They included 15 killed while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor that separates the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, according to Nasser hospital. A further six were killed while waiting for aid in northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing, according to Gaza's health ministry and Shifa hospital in Gaza City. According to the UN, more than 1,370 Palestinians have been killed since 27 May while seeking food. Netanyahu did not take responsibility for the killings and said, without providing evidence, that 'a lot of the firing was done by Hamas'. The Israeli military has repeatedly claimed Hamas is stealing aid, despite the European Commission finding no reports of this. Except on organised and controlled 'embeds' of a few hours alongside Israeli soldiers, international journalists have not been allowed into Gaza since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, were killed and more than 250 people were taken hostage. Families of the remaining hostages have also criticised the plan, and many were among tens of thousands of people who marched on Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv on Saturday. The plan has also opened a rift between Netanyahu and the IDF leadership, but has not been opposed by the Trump administration, Israel's most important backer. Israel says Gaza City and nearby areas are home to two remaining Hamas strongholds. 'We have about 70 to 75% of Gaza under Israeli control, military control. But we have two remaining strongholds. These are Gaza City and the central camps in Al Mawasi,' Netanyahu told reporters. 'Given Hamas's refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas', Netanyahu said, adding he expected the operation to begin 'fairly quickly'. Hamas says it will not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established. Netanyahu pushed back against what he called a 'global campaign of lies'. 'We will win the war, with or without the support of others,' he added. Britain, a close ally of Israel which nonetheless pushed along with others for the emergency meeting, warned in New York that Netanyahu's plan risked prolonging the conflict. 'It will only deepen the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. This is not a path to resolution. It is a path to more bloodshed,' said British deputy ambassador to the UN, James Kariuki. Algeria's ambassador, Amar Bendjama, called for sanctions on Israel in response to its Gaza City plan. 'The hour has come to impose sanctions on the enemy of humanity,' he said. The Palestinian envoy, Riyad Mansour, said: 'If it was another country, you would have been imposing sanctions a long time ago.' However, the US, a veto-wielding permanent member of the security council, offered support for Israel and accused those nations who supported Sunday's meeting of 'actively prolonging the war by spreading lies about Israel'. 'Israel has a right to decide what is necessary for its security and what measure measures are appropriate to end the threat posed by Hamas,' said the US envoy to the UN, Dorothy Shea. Israel's military offensive has killed at least 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, most of them civilians. The figure does not include the thousands believed to be buried under rubble or the thousands killed indirectly as a consequence of the war. Israel's deputy ambassador to the UN, Jonathan Miller, said: 'Pressure should not be placed on Israel, who suffered the most horrific attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, but on Hamas.'
Wall Street Journal
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Israel's New War Plan Includes Fighting in Gaza's Central Refugee Camps
JERUSALEM—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the new war plan approved by Israel's security cabinet includes dismantling Hamas in Gaza's central refugee camps in addition to Gaza City, a broadening that comes as he faces criticism internationally for expanding the war and from the far-right wing his coalition for not going far enough. The new war plan was approved just ahead of the weekend. An announcement by the prime minister's office at the time only mentioned that the military would prepare to take over Gaza City. Netanyahu revealed the previously undisclosed targeting of the central camps in comments to reporters Sunday.
The National
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Netanyahu says Israel has no choice but to 'complete the job' and defeat Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel has no choice but to 'complete the job' and defeat Hamas and that the new offensive planned in Gaza aims to eliminate the two remaining strongholds of the Islamist movement. Israel's security cabinet on Friday approved a plan to seize control of Gaza city, escalating military operations in the devastated Palestinian territory. The move drew renewed criticism at home and abroad, as concerns mounted over the nearly two-year-old war. 'This is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily,' Mr Netanyahu told journalists. He added that 'our goal is not to occupy Gaza, our goal is to free Gaza'. 'Israel has no choice but to complete the mission and eliminate Hamas in light of the movement's refusal to lay down its arms,' he said. The goal, he added is to disarm Hamas and 'establish a non-Israeli civil administration in Gaza, not led by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. 'We do not want to see Hamas or the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, but rather a peaceful civil administration.' The Israeli leader, who has been facing mounting pressure at home and abroad, said that the new operation set to be launched by the military in Gaza city will be on a 'fairly short timetable'. 'I don't want to talk about exact timetables, but we're talking in terms of a fairly short timetable because we want to bring the war to an end,' the prime minister said. He hit back at the wave of criticism of the new plans, saying the country was prepared to fight without the support of others. 'We will win the war, with or without the support of others,' said the Prime Minister. A top UN official said on Sunday that Israel's plans for the next military phase in Gaza will 'trigger another calamity' in the enclave. If Israel's plans are implemented, the effects will reverberate 'across the region, causing further force displacement, killings and destruction, compounding the unbearable suffering of the population', Miroslav Jenca, UN assistant secretary general for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, told an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council on Sunday. Mr Netanyahu also said he had directed Israel's military in recent days to 'bring in more foreign journalists' – which would be a striking development as they have not been allowed into Gaza beyond military embeds. He also promised that Israel 'will designate safe corridors for the passage and distribution of aid in the Gaza Strip.' On Saturday, Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he no longer had faith Mr Netanyahu was able to lead the army to a 'decisive victory' in Gaza, calling for the annexation of large parts of the enclave. Mr Smotrich called on Mr Netanyahu to aim for a complete victory in which Hamas would either surrender and release all hostages or be defeated. This would include the 'annexation of large parts of the Gaza Strip and opening its gates to voluntary migration', he said.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Benjamin Netanyahu vows to defeat Hamas as he condemns 'global campaign of lies' over starving Gazans
Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel has "no choice but to finish the job" against Hamas due to the militant group's "refusal to lay down its arms". The Israeli prime minister made the comment in a news briefing for foreign journalists on Sunday, where he also denied starving Gazans and claimed there is a "global campaign of lies" against . "Given Hamas's refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas," he said. Mr Netanyahu said there are "two remaining [Hamas] strongholds" in that he intends to "dismantle", claiming this is "the best way to end the war". Israel's security cabinet approved of Gaza City on Friday. It already controls around 75% of Gaza and has largely sealed its borders. Gaza latest: Mr Netanyahu also addressed global concerns about a lack of aid being allowed into Gaza - alleging some photographs of starving children are fake. The Israeli PM said: "The purpose of this news conference is to puncture the lies and spread the truth." Singling out three recent photographs, Mr Netanyahu claimed the Gazan children in them appear emaciated because they have medical conditions. "I'm looking right now into the possibility of a governmental suit against the New York Times because this is outrageous," he said. Many aid organisations have said the enclave is on the verge of famine and Palestinian officials at least 100 people have died of malnutrition, including 80 children. Mr Netanyahu said: "If we had a starvation policy, no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war." He also repeated the allegation that Hamas has been looting aid trucks and claimed uncollected food has been "rotting" at the border, blaming the UN for not distributing it. Responding to a question from , Mr Netanyahu said "hundreds" of aid trucks are entering Gaza to relieve "deprivation". He said the price of food in Gaza is now "plummeting" due to Israel's "humanitarian surge". The Israeli PM called on other countries to carry out more aid drops, despite the United Nations . Read more: The war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023 when Hamas killed about 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducted 251 others in its attack. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. It is believed Hamas is still holding 50 captives, with 20 believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians in its count.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hostage families call for nationwide strike as Israel prepares to escalate war
Families of Israeli hostages kept captive in Gaza are calling for a nationwide general strike next Sunday, in protest of the Israeli security cabinet's recent decision to expand the war and take over Gaza City. 'We are shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages,' said the relatives of the hostages in Tel Aviv. They were joined by the October 7 Council, which represents bereaved families of soldiers who fell at the start of the war. Organizers said the initiative would start as a grassroots effort primarily through private companies and citizens who will strike on Sunday to halt the economy. Within hours, the October 7 Council said 'hundreds' of companies said they would participate in the strike, as well as 'thousands of citizens who have declared they will take the day off.' Israel's largest worker union, known as the Histadrut, hasn't yet joined the strike. The families are expected to meet with Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David on Monday in a bid to convince him to join forces. Anat Angrest, mother of Matan, who is being held hostage in Gaza, appealed to the heads of the economic and labor industries, warning that 'your silence is killing our children.' Angrest said, 'I know your hearts are with us and in pain – but that is not enough. Silence kills. That is why I am here today to ask for something I have avoided until now – to ask the heads of industry: you have the power.' The Histadrut has already staged a general strike in support of the hostages' families last year. After the killing of six Israeli hostages by Hamas in September 2024, the union disrupted key sectors like transport, banking, healthcare, and joined widespread protests and demonstrations throughout the day. However, the Israeli government blasted their actions as political and moved to halt the strike through a labor court injunction. While the Histadrut has not commented publicly about the strike, Israeli opposition leaders have endorsed and embraced the initiative. Leader of the opposition Yair Lapid said, 'The call by the families of the hostages for a general strike is justified and appropriate.' The chairman of the Democrats party, Yair Golan, announced the party would join the strike and called 'on all Israeli citizens – anyone who holds the values of life and mutual responsibility dear – to strike with us, to take to the streets, to resist and disrupt.' The Israeli security cabinet decided on Friday to move forward with a controversial plan to expand the war and take over Gaza City. The plan has provoked harsh criticism from the families of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are presumed to be alive, warning that the new military move could endanger the living hostages and sentence them to death. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the escalation in a news conference on Sunday. 'Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily,' he told reporters.
