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DAIAL AL BARA, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again said on Saturday that Israel had “no choice” and said it would not end the war before destroying Hamas, freeing hostages and preventing the territory from pose a threat to Israel.
The Prime Minister also repeated his vows to ensure that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu is under pressure at home not only by hostage families and their supporters, but also by reserves and retired Israeli soldiers who question the continued war after Israel smashed a ceasefire last month. In his statement, he argued that Hamas had rejected Israel’s latest proposal to release half of the hostages for a continued ceasefire.
The prime minister spoke after the Israeli strike killed more than 90 people in 48 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday. Israeli forces are increasing their attacks, putting pressure on Hamas to release hostages and disarm them.
Hospital staff said the child and woman were among the 15 people killed overnight. At least 11 people died in the southern city of Khan Eunice. Some of them are in tents in the Mwasi region, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people still in their residence, hospital workers said. Israel designated it as a humanitarian region.
The mourner slowly kissed the dead on the face. Before the body bag closed, the man stroked the child’s forehead with his finger.
“Omar is gone…I wish I was me,” cried the brothers.
Four other people died in a strike in Rafa, including her mother and her daughter, according to the European hospital where the bodies were taken.
Israeli airstrikes killed one person later on Saturday in a group of civilians in western Nusairat, central Gaza, according to Al Auda Hospital.
Israeli military said in a statement that it killed more than 40 militants over the weekend.
Separately, the troops confirmed that soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Saturday, making it the first soldier’s death since Israel resumed the war on March 18th. Hamas’ armed wing, the Kassam Brigade, said it had ambushed Israeli forces working east of the Altaffa district of Gaza city.
Israel has pledged to intensify attacks across Gaza and occupy a large “security zone” in a small coastal strip of over 2 million people indefinitely. Hamas hopes Israeli forces will withdraw from their territory.
Israel has also been blocking Gaza for the past six weeks, again banning food and other goods from entering.
This week, aid groups issued an alarm, saying thousands of children have become malnourished and most people have barely eaten one meal a day as stocks drop.
Dr. Hannan Balky, director of the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean office, urged Israel’s new US ambassador, Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Friday to push the country to lift the Gaza blockade so that medicines and other aids can enter.
“I want him to come in and see the situation first hand,” she said.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and acquiring 251. Hamas currently has 59 hostages, of which 24 are believed to be alive.
The Israeli attacks killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The war destroyed a huge portion of Gaza and most of its food production capacity. Approximately 90% of the population is evacuated, and hundreds of thousands of people live in tent camps and bombed buildings.
Frustration has grown on both sides, with rare protests against Hamas in Gaza and weekly meetings in Israel continuing to press the government to reach a deal to bring all hostages into the home.
Thousands of Israelis joined the protest on Saturday night, pushing for a deal.
“Do what you should have done a long time ago. Get them all back now! And in one deal. And if this means stopping the war, stop the war,” former hostage Omer Shem Tov told a rally in Tel Aviv.
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Magdy reported from Jerusalem from Cairo and Federman. Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report.
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Follow AP war reports at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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This story corrects the date the WHO official commented on.
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