Despite facing growing international opposition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that Israel is escalating its bombardment of Gaza.
During a weekly meeting with his cabinet, he acknowledged the heavy toll the war is taking on Israel but emphasized that they have no choice but to continue fighting.
Over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly lost 15 soldiers in Gaza, with the majority of the deaths occurring on Friday and Saturday.
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari revealed that Israel targeted 200 locations within a 24-hour period, resulting in significant destruction. One particular strike in Gaza City claimed the lives of 90 Palestinians, including 76 members of a single extended family, making it one of the deadliest attacks in this highly destructive bombing campaign.
Critics have raised concerns about the use of an AI targeting program, referring to it as a “mass assassination factory.”
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The IDF has intensified its operations in both the northern region, where Gaza City has been severely damaged due to a controversial evacuation order issued by West Jerusalem, and in the densely populated area of Khan Younis in the south. Additionally, efforts are being made to destroy Hamas’ underground tunnel network.
The death toll of Israel’s war, with over 20,000 Palestinians reported killed and 53,000 wounded according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, has drawn condemnation from the United Nations, international humanitarian organizations, and even the United States, a staunch ally. During a phone call with his Israeli counterpart, US President Joe Biden stressed the “critical need” to protect civilian lives.
However, Biden emphasized that he did not request a ceasefire during their conversation, and the United States was accused of diluting a UN Security Council resolution that was passed on Friday, which called for the allowance of large-scale aid deliveries into Gaza.
Netanyahu specifically refuted a Wall Street Journal report that was published on Saturday, stating that he had cancelled a planned strike against Hezbollah due to pressure from the United States, just four days after Hamas’ attack on October 7 resulted in the death of 1,200 Israelis.
While the report suggested that West Jerusalem had been prepared to carry out a multi-pronged preemptive strike against the Lebanese militant group, Biden pointed out that such an action would inevitably lead to a broader war. However, Netanyahu asserted that the decisions of the Israeli Defense Forces regarding whether or not to attack neighboring countries were completely independent.
In a statement on Sunday, he stated, “Israel is a sovereign state.”
