Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza after the Israelis Attacked a Hamas-Based Hospital: “I’m Not Trying to Win It”
“Once we defeat Hamas, we have to make sure that there’s no new Hamas, no resurgence of terrorism, and right now the only force that is able to secure that is Israel,” Netanyahu said.
But the interview with Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep was notable for what the prime minister did not say: who he thinks should govern the territory with a population of 2.3 million, now devastated by six weeks of Israeli bombing.
The Israeli army encircled Gaza City over the last three weeks in order to stop Hamas commanders from leaving the area. The soldiers then attacked fighters and bunkers, all while targeting a vast tunnel network that Israeli officials say enables Hamas forces to hide and carry out operations. The Israeli government believed that hitting so deeply in the heart of Gaza City would encourage Hamas to reach a deal on hostage releases.
After October 7, Israel allowed Hamas to govern Gaza so that it wouldn’t have to. Israel says that Hamas can’t rule.
It’s unclear who would replace Hamas in the seat of government. The leader of the Palestinian Authority has said that he is not interested, and Israel doesn’t want that either.
Netanyahu compared the situation in Gaza to the Allies’ occupation of Germany and Japan after World War II, after their surrender, for administrative and rehabilitative purposes (such a move by Israel, however, would likely be unilateral).
The Israeli military has said that Hamas used a vast maze of tunnels underneath the hospital as a secret base, but since announcing early Wednesday that its troops had entered the grounds, the military has yet to present public documentation of such an extensive network. Israel is under pressure to demonstrate that the hospital and the tunnel network it said they hid are important enough military targets to justify the huge cost in Palestinian lives.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israeli forces had found proof of their allegations about Al-Shifa. There were “a lot of terrorists there,” he said in an interview with National Public Radio, but “they fled as our forces approached the hospital.”
Netanyahu said troops found weapons, ammunition, bombs and a “major” command center in the hospital, which he said Israel has now taken over. He added that as troops moved in, they brought Arabic-speaking doctors and incubators with them.
The Geneva Conventions protect hospitals during war, but the safeguards are not absolute. The human rights groups have called for a cease-fire, but Netanyahu has said it can’t happen until all hostages are released.
Update on the Up First Briefing: Netanyahu talks Gaza’s future; Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of rape
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Source: Up First briefing: Netanyahu talks Gaza’s future; Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of rape
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Almost 48 hours after entering Gaza’s largest medical complex, the Israeli military escorted journalists from The New York Times through a landscape of wartime destruction Thursday night to a stone-and-concrete shaft on its grounds with a staircase descending into the earth — evidence, it said, of a Hamas military facility under the hospital.
But Col. Elad Tsury, commander of Israel’s Seventh Brigade, said Israeli forces, fearing booby traps, had not ventured down the shaft at the hospital, Al-Shifa. He said that it was discovered in a pile of sand on the northern part of the complex.
The military said it had sent a missile down several meters, although it was unclear where the shaft led or how deep it was. Electrical wiring was visible inside, along with a metal staircase.
“We found a lot of weapons — a lot,” he added. A lot of bullets were found. We found bombs. We found a command and control center of Hamas that had military cipher on it.
In order to enter Gaza, two reporters and a photographer for The Times were obliged to remain with Israeli troops for the duration of the visit. They agreed not to photograph most soldiers’ faces, landmarks, maps and certain details of weapons. The Israeli military was not allowed to screen its coverage before it was published.
Colonel Tsury said the military had provided food, supplies and medical equipment to patients and doctors, an assertion that could not be immediately verified.
The extent of the damage to the hospital isn’t entirely clear. The main emergency building came back to life after a days long siege that health officials claim resulted in dire conditions.
Gunfire rattled nearby throughout The Times’s visit, giving the impression of ongoing gun battles in nearby streets. To enter the hospital grounds, journalists were taken through the bombed out remains of a building on the outskirts, which was too dangerous for them to pass through the main gate.
Away from the hospital, the scale of the destruction had rendered parts of Gaza unrecognizable. The seafront promenade had fallen to the ground, apartment blocks had been destroyed and others flattened by the bombardment. There was a bumpy dirt track on the main coastal road.
Israeli officials told military officials in the U.S. that it will take more than two weeks to clear operations in the north of Gaza before they begin their plan to widen the offensive.
The Israeli military will press on with its offensive in the south of the Strip, according to Rear Adm. Hagari.
Military analysts said Mr. Gallant’s statements raised many questions, even though he said in his video statement that Israel had increased its activities against the tunnels.
If Hamas fighters blend in with the rest of the population, how will they be eliminated? How long can Israel, which lost about 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 atrocities, sustain growing international pressure for a cease-fire as civilian casualties in Gaza mount? Was Al-Shifa a military target to raid immediately?