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Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid arriving in Gaza City in the Gaza Strip.
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Smoke and explosions inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday denounced growing complaints from the United States, his main ally, about his leadership amid the devastating war with Hamas, saying the tension will not save Israel from achieving a “total victory. “”
In recent days, U. S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the country’s highest-ranking Jewish official and a staunch defender of Israel, has called on Israel to hold new elections, saying Netanyahu has “lost his way. “President Joe Biden called Schumer a “good speech” and had in the past accused Netanyahu of harming Israel because of the huge number of civilian deaths in Gaza.
Netanyahu denounced Schumer’s comments as “totally inappropriate” and told Fox News that Israel would never hold new elections in the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“We are not a banana republic,” he said. The other peoples of Israel will be when they hold elections and who they elect, and this is not something that is imposed on us. “
Asked via CNN if he would dedicate himself to holding new elections after the war ends, Netanyahu replied: “I think it’s a resolution that belongs to the Israeli public. “
The United States, which has provided key armed forces and diplomats to Israel, also expressed fear about a planned Israeli attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where some 1. 4 million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge, and expressed interest in a new circular of talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in exchange for the return of Israeli hostages captured in the Hamas attack on Jan. 7 October.
The Israeli delegation for the talks will not leave for Qatar until Sunday evening for meetings of the Security Cabinet and War Cabinet, which will provide guidance for negotiations.
Despite the talks, Netanyahu has made clear he has no intention of abandoning the fighting that has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. It has been more than five months since Hamas’ attack on southern Israel killed another 1,200 people. and left 250 hostages in Gaza.
Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu said holding elections now, which polls show he would lose handily, would force Israel to stop fighting and paralyze the country for six months.
“If we prevent the war now, before all its objectives are achieved, it means that Israel will have lost the war, and we will allow it,” he said.
Netanyahu also reiterated his determination to attack Hamas in Rafah and said he had approved the army’s plans for such an operation.
“We will operate in Rafah. It’s going to take several weeks and it’s going to happen,” he said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday reiterated his warning that an Israeli offensive in Rafah would have “serious repercussions for the entire region. “Egypt also says pushing the Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula would jeopardize its peace treaty with Israel, which has been a cornerstone of regional stability for nearly part of a century.
Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul general in New York and an outspoken critic of Netanyahu, said the prime minister’s comments are consistent with his efforts to locate other culprits if Israel does not achieve its purpose of destroying Hamas.
“He’s intentionally clashing with the U. S. so he can blame Biden,” Pinkas said.
Both sides have something to gain politically from this conflict. Biden’s administration is under increasing pressure from progressive Democrats and some Arab-American supporters to curb Israel’s war against Hamas. Meanwhile, Netanyahu needs to show that his nationalist base can cope with global tension, even from Israel’s closest ally.
But tension also comes from home: Thousands of people rallied Saturday night in Tel Aviv to support Netanyahu’s government and call for new elections and a deal for the remaining hostages.
The Israeli offensive has driven as many as 2. 3 million Gazans from their homes. According to the UN, a quarter of Gaza’s population is starving.
Airdrops across the U. S. and other countries continue, while deliveries to a new sea direction have begun, but aid teams say more land addresses and fewer Israeli restrictions will significantly cover humanitarian needs.
Gaza’s Public Health Ministry said at least 31,645 Palestinians were killed in the war. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and young people account for two-thirds of the dead.
The Health Ministry said on Sunday that the bodies of another 92 people killed in Israeli bombardments had been transported to Gaza hospitals in the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 130 wounded, he said.
At least 11 members of the Thabet family, as well as five young men and a woman, were killed in an airstrike in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and an Associated Press reporter. He lay among the dead.
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