Palestinians flee south of the Gaza Strip along Salah al-Din Street in Bureij, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair).
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday rejected growing foreign calls for a ceasefire, and Israel’s war to pressure Gaza’s ruling Hamas militants will continue in “full force. “
A ceasefire would only be imaginable if the 239 hostages held by militants in Gaza were released, Netanyahu said in a televised address.
The Israeli leader also insisted that after the war, which is now entering its sixth week, Gaza would be demilitarized and Israel would maintain security there. Asked what he meant by security checks, Netanyahu said Israeli forces deserve to be allowed free access to Gaza to hunt down militants.
He also rejected the idea that the Palestinian Authority, which has lately run autonomous spaces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, would at some point set up shop in Gaza. Both positions run counter to the post-war scenarios evoked by Israel’s closest ally, the United States. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States opposes an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and envisions a unified Palestinian government in Gaza and the West Bank at some point as a step toward a Palestinian state.
For now, Netanyahu said, “the war against (Hamas) is proceeding at full speed and has one goal: to win. There is no election for victory. “
Pressure mounted on Israel after distraught doctors at Gaza’s largest hospital said the last generator had run out of fuel, killing a premature baby, another child in an incubator and four other patients. Thousands of war-wounded medical workers and displaced civilians have been caught up in the fighting.
In recent days, fighting near Shifa and other hospitals in northern Gaza has intensified and materials have run out. The Israeli military claimed, without offering evidence, that Hamas had set up command posts in and under hospitals, using civilians as human shields. Medical staff in Shifa denied the allegations and accused Israel of harming civilians through indiscriminate attacks. Shifa Hospital Director Mohammed Abu Selmia said the facility lost strength on Saturday.
“Medical devices have been stopped. Patients, especially those receiving intensive care, started dying,” he said by phone, amid gunfire and explosions. He said Israeli troops were “shooting anyone outside or inside the hospital” and preventing movement between buildings.