Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and two of his high-profile ministers shared their condolences with the families of the three hostages killed by the IDF at a press conference Saturday afternoon and expressed their determination to demilitarize the Gaza Strip. and put the area under Israeli control. .
“The State of Israel is crying and mourning the death of our three children,” Netanyahu said at the press conference, referring to the shooting deaths of Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka and Alon Shamriz in Gaza City on Friday.
“It was a real shock to me,” he added of the news that the three men, who managed to escape the clutches of Hamas, were killed even after waving a makeshift white flag and perhaps shouting in Hebrew.
“It has broken my heart, it has broken the heart of the entire nation,” lamented the 74-year-old prime minister.
Netanyahu, however, renewed calls for the public to support the Israel Defense Forces’ campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which began in response to the terrorist group’s massacre of some 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7.
Israel’s prime minister addressed the public on Saturday evening. GPO/YouTube Netanyahu (left) was accompanied by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Knesset member Benny Gantz. GPO/YouTube
“Without military pressure, we would not have been able to complete the agreement that brought the hostages home in that first agreement,” he said of the first temporary ceasefire that saw the release of 110 hostages for a week in late November.
“Without this military pressure, we have nothing,” Netanyahu insisted. “We are determined to continue until the end, until we have eliminated the Hamas terrorists and until we have brought all the hostages home.”
“It’s not politics; this is a policy, this is my policy,” he continued. “That is the desire of the majority of the people” in Israel.
The three hostages were killed on Friday by friendly fire. Avi Lulu/Facebook
Netanyahu criticized Hamas’ charter, which calls for Israel’s elimination, and also vowed not to allow the Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank, to control the Gaza Strip after the war.
“I won’t let that happen,” he said. “Gaza will be demilitarized under Israeli control”
“There will be no one who will educate their children to annihilate Israel,” he added.
Netanyahu’s impassioned comments were followed by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who said he bears “responsibility for everything that is happening.” [in the war]…for the achievements, yes, but also for the prices we are paying.”
“The soldiers, of course, did not intend to do it, but they killed them with friendly fire,” he said of the deaths of the three hostages.
Netanyahu also answered questions from the press. GPO/YouTube
The Israeli military will now work to educate soldiers in Gaza to avoid similar tragic mistakes, Gallant added.
“The price, the cost of war is very high and we pay it every day,” he continued.
“[But we are] fighting for a worthy cause. We have to pay that price, there is no choice. [but for] the military eradication of [Hamas’] authority in the Gaza Strip and bring the hostages home.”
Gallant said he fully believed in the “justification” of Israel’s path in Gaza.
“We are fighting the fairest battle we can, that any nation can be involved in,” he said, referring to Hamas as an “evil organization… that murdered our children, raped our women, kidnapped our elderly and murdered to our kids”. them.”
Israeli soldiers prepare ammunition near a self-propelled artillery howitzer in southern Israel. AFP via Getty Images
“Hamas only responds with force,” he added.
Both Gallant and Knesset member Benny Gantz – who also spoke at the press conference – said the war against Hamas will be “long.”
“This is not the time for long words, but for actions,” Gantz insisted.
The three leaders’ statements were followed by a tense question-and-answer session with journalists, in which the three were questioned about Israel’s work against Hezbollah in Lebanon and the potential for a new hostage deal.
Under pressure from various directions, Netanyahu insisted that he is “passing the night” to ensure the country’s security.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn