Aug. 10 (UPI) — Israel’s goal in Gaza is not to occupy the devastated Palestinian enclave but to “free it from Hamas terrorists,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Sunday as he defended the plan to escalate its offensive, which has come under staunch international opposition, including from allies.
“Our goal is not to occupy Gaza, our goal is to free Gaza, free it from Hamas terrorists,” Netanyahu said, speaking in English during a press conference. “The war can end tomorrow if Hamas lays down its arms and releases all the remaining hostages.”
Israel’s security cabinet overnight Thursday approved the plan to take control of Gaza. The Israeli military controls about 75% of the enclave, with Gaza City and the Central Camps and Moasi being the two remaining areas that Netanyahu described as Hamas “strongholds.”
Under the plan, the Israeli military is instructed to “dismantle” them, he said.
“Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war, and the best way to end it speedily,” he said.
Since it was announced, Netanyahu’s plan has been widely condemned for risking not only the roughly 2 million Palestinians who live there but also the Israeli hostages.
Allies Britain, Denmark, France, Greece and Slovenia have called for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the situation in Gaza, saying Israel’s decision to expand military operations risks violating international humanitarian law.
“Expanding military operations will only endanger the lives of all civilians in Gaza, including the remaining hostages, and result in further unnecessary suffering,” they said in a joint statement.
Gaza is experiencing a worsening humanitarian situation. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, five people have died from starvation in the last 24 hours, including two children, bringing the total to 217 starvation deaths, 100 of them children.
Netanyahu — who is wanted for arrest by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges of using starvation as a method of warfare — used the press conference Sunday to blame Hamas and the United Nations for the food shortage, saying the militia loots aid trucks and the intergovernmental organization refused to distribute aid brought in on trucks.
“We’ve had tons of uncollected food rotting on the Gazan side of the border because the U.N. was, and still is, unwilling to deliver all of it,” he said.
The United Nations has previously refuted these accusations, stating there are security concerns and bureaucratic roadblocks. Late last month, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, blamed Israel for showing “a lack of willingness to allow us to do our work.”
Netanyahu said there has been a “humanitarian surge” in recent days that is “preventing hunger” while stating that Israel has been the victim of a “global campaign of lies.”
“The only ones that are being deliberately starved in Gaza are our hostages,” he said.
According to U.N. statistics, more than one in three Gazans go days without eating, and nearly a quarter of the Enclave is enduring famine-like conditions.
In the nearly two-year-old war, more than 61,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to the health ministry.