The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has again ruled out a ceasefire insisting that such will not happen until Hamas releases its captives in Gaza, however, he signalled his openness to ‘tactical little pauses’ to allow the movement of people and aid.
Speaking in an interview with ABC News which was monitored by Africa Today News, New York on Monday night, Netanyahu said; ‘There’ll be no ceasefire, general ceasefire, in Gaza without the release of our hostages. As far as tactical little pauses, an hour here, an hour there – we’ve had them before’.
‘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.’
Africa Today News, New York reports that Netanyahu’s comments come as Israel faces growing international pressure to halt its bombardment of Gaza, which was launched in response to Hamas’s October 7 attacks that Israeli officials say killed at least 1,405 people, mostly civilians.
On Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an urgent ceasefire, warning that the enclave had become a “graveyard for children“.
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The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has pressed Netanyahu to agree to “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid into the enclave, but backed the Israeli leader’s opposition to a full ceasefire.
On Monday, Israel’s military said it had “coordinated” with Jordan to airdrop urgent medical supplies and food to a Jordanian field hospital in the enclave.
At least 10,022 Palestinians, including more than 4,100 children, have been killed in Gaza during the month-long war, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
On Monday, Netanyahu said the loss of any civilian life was a “tragedy” but disputed the reported death toll, saying it included “several thousand” Palestinian fighters, and accused Hamas of using Gaza’s population as human shields.
“It’s a very tough enemy but we can’t let them have immunity,” he said.
Netanyahu also suggested that Israel would manage Gaza’s security long after the war.