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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
© Marc Israel Sellem/Imago
Israel's conduct of the war is encountering growing resistance in the USA.
But Netanyahu remains unimpressed and is sticking to his plans.
TEL AVIV - Israel "cannot and will not bow to international pressure" to end its military action in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a government meeting on Sunday (March 17), amid growing U.S. criticism over his government's conduct of the war.
“There are those in the international community who are trying to end the war now, before all its objectives have been achieved,” he said.
“They do this by trying to bring about elections now, at the height of the war.
They are doing this because they know that the elections now will stop the war and paralyze the country for at least six months.”
“If we end the war now, before all its objectives are achieved, it will mean that Israel has lost the war, and we will not allow that,” he continued.
Netanyahu with a hidden reference to Biden
While Netanyahu did not say where the pressure was coming from, the comments came after Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (Democrat) said Thursday that Israel was in danger of becoming a "pariah" under Netanyahu and called for elections .
US President Joe Biden later praised Schumer for his “good speech”.
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Netanyahu also vowed on Sunday to continue his military's plan to attack Rafah, the southern Gaza town where more than half of the enclave's population is seeking refuge.
“We will operate in Rafah,” Netanyahu said.
This is the "only way" to "eliminate" Hamas and free the remaining hostages - Israel's two stated goals for its war in Gaza.
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Last week, the Israeli military said it intended to divert a "significant" portion of Rafah's 1.4 million residents to "humanitarian islands" in the center of the Gaza Strip before the offensive begins, which Biden has warned would be a " “red line” crossing.
Netanyahu's office said Friday he had approved a plan for military operations in Rafah, without giving details.
USA sets conditions for support
On Sunday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on ABC's "This Week" that the U.S. would support an operation in Rafah only "if [Israel] accepts the 1.5 million refugees who are there." , accommodate and ensure their safety”.
Aid organizations also advocate restraint.
On Saturday, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "very concerned" about Israel's plan to attack Rafah and appealed to Israel to call off the operation.
To the authors
Niha Masih
is a reporter in The Washington Post's Seoul bureau, where she covers breaking news from the United States and around the world.
She was previously the Post's correspondent in India, where she covered the rise of majoritarian nationalism, the conflict in Kashmir, the Covid crisis and digital surveillance of citizens.
Jennifer Hassan
is a London-based breaking news reporter in the Washington Post's foreign desk.
Before joining the Post in 2016, Jennifer Hassan honed her skills as a UK social media editor at MailOnline.
Sarah Dadouch
is the Washington Post's Middle East correspondent in Beirut.
She previously worked as a Reuters correspondent in Beirut, Riyadh and Istanbul.
Humanitarian organizations say the besieged enclave is on the brink of famine and they are calling on Israel to allow more aid deliveries and open more entrances to the area.
One in three children under the age of two is acutely malnourished in the northern Gaza Strip, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Saturday, adding that child malnutrition has reached "unprecedented" levels.
Lior Soroka and Peter Jamison contributed to this report.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on March 17, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now available in translation and a shortened version to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.