Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza would extend for “many additional months,” resisting ongoing international calls for a cease-fire despite escalating civilian casualties, hunger, and extensive displacement within the besieged region.
Netanyahu expressed gratitude to the Biden administration for their continual support, which included sanctioning a new emergency weapons sale—marking the second this month—and preventing a U.N. Security Council resolution that sought an immediate halt to the conflict.
Israel asserts that terminating the war presently would signify a triumph for Hamas, a viewpoint echoed by the Biden administration. Simultaneously, the U.S. urged Israel to take further steps to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.
In the latest clashes, Israeli airstrikes targeted the densely populated refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij in Gaza’s central region on Saturday, while ground forces advanced deeper into the southern city of Khan Younis.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Saturday that Israel’s extensive air and ground offensive, which commenced after the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, resulted in over 21,600 Palestinian deaths.
The ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilian and combatant fatalities, disclosed 165 Palestinian casualties within the past 24 hours. Approximately 70% of the fatalities have reportedly been women and children.
