Netanyahu says ‘no one will stop us’ from destroying Hamas
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories—The war between Israel and Hamas entered its 100th day on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “no one will stop us” from destroying the militant group.
The conflict has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with thousands reportedly killed in Gaza and much of the besieged Palestinian territory reduced to rubble, as fears grow that fighting could engulf the wider region.
Fresh strikes hit Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on Saturday after the rebels warned of more attacks in support of Gaza on what they deem Israeli-linked Red Sea shipping.
The US Central Command said its forces hit a Houthi radar site, a day after the first strikes by US and British forces on rebel sites in Yemen.
The war in Gaza was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack from the Gaza Strip that resulted in about 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally based on official figures.
Hamas, considered a “terrorist” group by the United States and the European Union, also seized about 250 hostages, 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza, including at least 25 believed to have been killed.
International Court of Justice
Israel vowed to destroy Gaza’s Islamist rulers and launched a relentless bombardment that has killed at least 23,843 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll from the Hamas-controlled health ministry.After the Hague-based International Court of Justice heard arguments this week that accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, Netanyahu insisted no court or military foe could stop Israel from achieving its aim of destroying Hamas.
“No one will stop us—not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else,” he told a televised news conference on Saturday, referring to the Iran-aligned “axis of resistance” groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
“It is possible and necessary to continue until victory and we will do it,” he added, saying most Hamas battalions in Gaza had been “eliminated.”
Netanyahu is under growing domestic pressure to bring home hostages who have now been held in Gaza for 100 days, with thousands rallying in Tel Aviv to call for their release.
“We will continue to come here week after week until everybody is released,” Edan Begerano, 47, told AFP.
Health officials in Gaza said on Saturday Israeli strikes killed at least 60 people in the besieged territory.
Nimma al-Akhras, 80, described one of the strikes that destroyed her home.
“We started to scream and I couldn’t move but someone pulled me out and put me on a cart,” she said.
The Israeli military said it struck dozens of rocket launchers that were “ready to be used” in central Gaza and eliminated four “terrorists” in air strikes on Khan Yunis, Gaza’s main southern city.
It also reported that its engineers had destroyed a Hamas “command center” in central Gaza.
Mourners gathered at Rafah’s Al-Najjar hospital and prayed around the bodies of slain relatives. —AFP
