Jerusalem, Oct 30 (EFE).- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ruled out a cessation of hostilities against the Islamist group Hamas, likening the present situation to the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Twin Towers.
“Just as the United States would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack of 911, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of October 7,” he said in a press statement in English directed to foreign media outlets.
Hamas killed more than 1,400 soldiers and civilians and kidnapped 239 on that single day, making it the deadliest in Israel’s history.
“Calls for a ceasefire are a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen,” the Israeli Prime Minister, who speaks fluent English because he spent part of his childhood in the United States, said in a speech before questions from the press.
Netenyahu described Hamas and what he called the “Iranian axis of terror” (which includes Hezbollah) as “the forces of barbarism” and portrayed Israel as “fighting the enemies of civilization itself.”
Victory over these enemies begins with moral clarity. I begins with knowing the difference between good and evil, between right and wrong. It means makign a moral distinction between the deliberate murder of the innocent and the unintentional casualties that accompany every legitimate war, even the most just war,” he said.
And added that Hamas must be held accountable for the “double war crime it commits every day” by targeting Israeli civilians and using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Netanyahu said this was not only “an immoral tactic of terror but also an ineffective one” because “as long as Hamas’ use of Palestinina human shields result in the international community blaming Israel, Hamas will continue to use it a tool of terror and so will others.”
“Every civilized nation should stand Israel in demanding that these hostages be freed immediately and freed unconditionally,” the Israeli Prime Minister said.
Netanyahu reiterated that Israel has been urging Palestinian civilians to leave areas where fighting is raging, particularly northern Gaza and Gaza City, and move south, but, he said, “Hamas prevents these civilians from leaving at gunpoint”.
“But make no mistake, regardless of who stands with Israel, Israel will fight until this battle is won. And Israel will prevail,” he concluded.
Netanyahu, who rarely speaks to the Israeli press, took questions from the international media. ABC News correspondent Matt Rivers asked him if he had considered resigning, given that his support among the Israeli public has dropped considerably: “The only thing that I intend to have resign is Hamas, we’re going to resign them to the dustbin of history, ” he answered.
Israeli bombardments of Gaza have killed more than 8,000 people since the war began on Oct. 7, according to the Gaza Health Ministry controlled by Hamas. But the White House has put these figures in doubt arguing the “Gaza Ministry of Health is just a front for Hamas.” EFE
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