Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged on Thursday that despite their efforts to minimize casualties, their attempts to get civilians out of harm’s way in the ongoing battle with Hamas in Gaza have been unsuccessful. Netanyahu made these comments in response to a question from U.S. television’s CBS News about whether Israel’s actions would provoke further hatred.
Netanyahu emphasized that any civilian death is a tragedy and stated that Israel is doing everything possible to protect civilians, while Hamas is deliberately endangering them. He mentioned that Israel has been dropping leaflets and making phone calls to warn civilians to evacuate, and many have heeded these warnings.
Israel’s military campaign is aimed at destroying Hamas, but Netanyahu stressed that they are also striving to minimize civilian casualties. However, he admitted that they have not been successful in this regard. Netanyahu wanted to draw a comparison with a situation related to Germany but was interrupted by the CBS interviewer, who shifted the conversation to Gaza’s post-war security.
The impact of Israel’s military campaign has been felt heavily by Palestinian civilians, with Israel claiming that the Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel also alleged that Hamas took around 240 hostages of different nationalities. Gaza health authorities, deemed reliable by the United Nations, reported that at least 11,500 people have been confirmed killed in the Israeli bombardment and ground invasion, including over 4,700 children.
The war has caused mass displacement, with two-thirds of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million being made homeless. In response to the ongoing conflict, Israel’s air force dropped leaflets in south Gaza, urging people to evacuate for their own safety. Similar leaflet drops have occurred in northern Gaza, resulting in a significant number of people moving. However, Palestinians fear that this mass displacement could become permanent.
These developments were reported by Rami Ayyub, with editing by Grant McCool.
