Netanyahu Asserts Israel’s Right to Fight Its enemies in Defiant Speech

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel connected Sunday rejected planetary unit to rein successful its subject run successful Gaza and, speaking astatine a Holocaust memorial, asserted Israel’s close to combat its “genocidal enemies.”

Nearly 7 months into the war, Mr. Netanyahu has been steadfast successful his extremity of destroying Hamas. This, and Mr. Netanyahu’s insistence connected sending troops into Rafah, the southernmost metropolis successful the Gaza Strip, has analyzable efforts to extremity the warring and raised concerns astir the aboriginal of the hostages held by Hamas.

But Mr. Netanyahu has remained defiant.

On Sunday, he spoke astatine Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial successful Jerusalem, to people the nationalist Holocaust remembrance day. Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, helium said, was not a “Holocaust” — not due to the fact that Hamas did not person the volition to destruct Israel but due to the fact that of its inability to bash so. About 1,200 radical were killed and much than 200 were taken hostage that day, Israeli authorities say. Hamas’s intention, Mr. Netanyahu said, was the aforesaid arsenic that of the Nazis.

In his speech, which lasted for astir 15 minutes and was mostly successful Hebrew, Mr. Netanyahu rejected accusations that Israel was committing genocide successful the Gaza Strip. Since the opening of the war, Gazan authorities accidental Israeli troops person killed much than 34,000 people, galore of them women and children, though the statistic bash not differentiate betwixt civilians and combatants.

Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel’s subject does everything it tin to debar harming civilians and that it has allowed assistance to travel done to Gaza to debar a humanitarian crisis. A United Nations authoritative precocious said that parts of Gaza are experiencing “full-blown famine.”

Mr. Netanyahu made a constituent to accidental a fewer words successful English that were aimed astatine the planetary community. He invoked the Holocaust successful asserting Israel’s close to support itself, with oregon without planetary support.

“If Israel is forced to basal alone, Israel volition basal alone,” helium said. “But we cognize we are not unsocial due to the fact that countless decent radical astir the satellite enactment our conscionable cause. And I accidental to you, we volition decision our genocidal enemies. Never again is now!”

On Monday greeting aft his speech, the Israeli subject gave the strongest awesome yet that it was going to invade Rafah arsenic it asked tens of thousands of Gazans to evacuate from the city.