Israel’s Prime Minister Has Rejected A Ceasefire Again And Said Israel Will Control Gaza’s Security Indefinitely
Netanyahu said a general ceasefire would hamper Israel’s war efforts.
In an interview, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again rejected the possibility of a humanitarian ceasefire unless Hamas releases their hostages.
Speaking on ABC News on Monday Nov. 6, Netanyahu said a general ceasefire would hamper Israel’s war efforts.
Hamas is currently holding about 200 Israelis hostage after launching a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,400 Israelis.
“As far as tactical little pauses, an hour here, an hour there, we’ve had them before,” he said. “I suppose we’ll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods, to come in or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave, but I don’t think there’s going to be a general ceasefire.
When asked who he thinks should control Gaza after the war ends, Netanyahu said that Israel will continue to control Gaza’s security “indefinitely” afterwards.
“When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine,” Netanyahu said.
His comments come after US president Joe Biden, his closest ally, said last month that a full-scale Israeli occupation of Gaza would be “a mistake”.
Biden has also supported Netanyahu’s rejection of a full ceasefire but has been pushing Netanyahu to agree to “humanitarian pauses” so that aid can enter.
Netanyahu is coming under growing international pressure to stop its relentless bombardment of Gaza, which has now killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, including more than 4,000 children.
The same day, the United Nations’ Secretary General António Guterres reiterated his calls for a ceasefire, saying that Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children”.
