Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday that Israel had “no choice” to continue to fight in Gaza and would not end the war before destroying Hamas, release the hostages and ensure that the territory will not present a threat to Israel.
The Prime Minister also repeated his wish to ensure that Iran never receives a nuclear weapon.
Netanyahu undergoes increasing pressure at home not only from hostage families and his supporters, but also of retired Israeli reservists and soldiers who question the continuation of the war after Israel broke a ceasefire last month. In his statement, he said Hamas had rejected Israel’s last proposal to release half of the hostages for a continuous ceasefire.
The Prime Minister spoke after Israeli strikes killed more than 90 people in 48 hours, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced on Saturday. Israeli troops have increased their attacks to put Hamas to release the hostages and disarm.
Children and women were one of the 15 people killed overnight, according to hospital staff.
At least 11 people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, including several in a tent in the Muwasi region where hundreds of thousands of people inappropriate people have said hospital workers. Israel has appointed it as a humanitarian area.
The mourning people rocked and embraced the faces of the dead. A man caressed the forehead of a child with his finger before the body bags were closed.
“Omar left … I want me to be me,” cried a brother.
Four other people were killed in strikes in Rafah City, including a mother and daughter, according to European hospital, where the bodies were taken.
Later on Saturday, an Israeli air strike on a group of civilians west of Nuseirat in the center of Gaza killed a person, according to Al-Awda Hospital.
The Israeli army in a statement said it had killed more than 40 activists over the weekend. In addition, he said that a soldier was killed on Saturday in the north of Gaza and confirmed that it was the first soldier who died since Israel returned to war on March 18.
Israel has promised to intensify attacks through Gaza and to occupy large “safety zones” inside the small coastal band of more than 2 million people indefinitely. Hamas wants Israeli forces to withdraw from the territory.
Israel has also blocked Gaza in the past six weeks, except for food and other products.
This week, aid groups raised the alarm, saying that thousands of children have become malnourished and that most people are eating a meal a day while stocks decrease, according to the United Nations.
Friday, the chief of the eastern Mediterranean office of the World Health Organization, Dr. Hanan Balky, urged the new American ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, to push the country to raise the blockade of Gaza so that drugs and other aid can enter.
“I want him to enter and saw the first hand situation,” she said.
The war began when activists led by Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mainly civilians and removing 251. Most of the hostages were released in cease-fire agreements or other agreements. Hamas currently has 59 hostages, including 24 which would be alive.
Israel’s offensive has since killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The war has destroyed large parts of Gaza and most of its food production capacities. About 90% of the population is moved, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed buildings.
Frustration grew up on both sides, with rare public demonstrations against Hamas in Gaza and weekly gatherings continued in Israel by pressing the government to conclude an agreement to bring all hostages home.
