Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas “will not happen“, as ground forces fought inside Gaza and air strikes pounded the besieged Palestinian territory.
Netanyahu Says Gaza Ceasefire ‘Will Not Happen’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas “will not happen“, as ground forces fought inside Gaza and air strikes pounded the besieged Palestinian territory. Netanyahu spoke to foreign press after telling his war cabinet Israeli forces were making “systematic progress” against Hamas in response to the October 7 attacks — the deadliest in the country’s history.
Israel’s intensifying military operations have sharply heightened fears for the 2.4 million inhabitants of Gaza, where the Hamas-controlled health ministry says more than 8,300 have been killed. Netanyahu told the press briefing a ceasefire would amount to surrendering to Hamas, whose gunmen killed 1,400 people and took more than 230 hostages, according to the latest Israeli figures. “Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism… this will not happen,” he said, vowing Israel would “fight until this battle is won”.
The Israeli leader said the international community must demand the captives remaining in Gaza “be freed immediately, unconditionally”. Dozens of tanks advanced for more than an hour into the southern fringes of Gaza City and blocked the main north-south highway, “firing at any vehicle that tries to go along it”. Hamas said it had fired anti-tank missiles at two Israeli armoured vehicles and that “blows delivered by the resistance have prevented” Israeli troops from establishing a presence in Gaza.
The Israeli army has struck targets in Syria and traded cross-border fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati told AFP he was “doing my duty to prevent Lebanon from entering the war”.
