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Tag: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

  • Iran armed forces urge evacuation of residents in major Israeli cities

    Iran armed forces urge evacuation of residents in major Israeli cities

    Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi urged on Tuesday residents of the major Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv to evacuate, warning of imminent “punitive” attacks.

    “Punitive operations will be carried out soon,” Mousavi said in a video statement carried by state TV on the fifth day of the deadly confrontation triggered by Israeli air raid on Friday.

    He added that previous attacks on Israel have so far only been for “deterrence” purposes.

    Referring to Israel, Mousavi said that “residents of the occupied territories, especially Tel Aviv and Haifa, are strongly urged to leave these areas for the sake of their lives”.

    Mousavi told Israelis not to “fall victim” to “animalistic desires” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Tehran blames for the escalation.

    After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel launched a surprise attack in the early hours of Friday, saying it was targeting Iran’s nuclear and military facilities.

    So far it has killed at least 224 people in the Islamic republic, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

    Iran has retaliated with barrages of drone and missiles that have killed at least 24 people in Israel, according to the latest figures from the prime minister’s office.

    On Monday, Israel warned residents to leave a northern district of the Iranian capital before striking the headquarters of state television, in an attack the broadcaster said killed three people.

  • Israel-Gaza war: Netanyahu vows to intensify campaign

    Israel-Gaza war: Netanyahu vows to intensify campaign

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will intensify its fight against Hamas in the coming days.

    He told members of his party that he had visited Gaza on Monday morning and that Israel’s military campaign there was “not close to being over”.

    His comments come days after the US secretary of state said Israel should lower the intensity of its strikes.

    The war began on 7 October after Hamas led a deadly attack on communities inside Israel.

    Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday that some 20,674 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli bombardments since then. It says most of the fatalities have been women and children.

    Some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed when Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on 7 October. About 240 people were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel says 132 are still being held.

    Mr Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and return the hostages to Israel.

    He told a meeting of his Likud party that troops he met on his visit to Gaza had urged Israel to keep fighting “until the end”.

    “We’re not stopping. We’re continuing to fight, and we’re intensifying the fighting in the coming days. It’s going to be a long war that’s not close to ending.”

    Later on Monday, the prime minister was heckled by relatives of hostages demanding the immediate release of their loved ones during an address to parliament.

    “We will not be able to release all the abductees without military pressure … we will not stop fighting,” he said, as families chanted “Now! Now!” from the gallery.

    Israeli and Arab media say that Egypt has proposed a plan for a ceasefire between the two sides.

    According to reports, the plan would see the phased release of all Israeli hostages and an undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails over the course of a month and a half, ending with a suspension of Israel’s offensive.

    A previous temporary truce deal negotiated by Qatar saw dozens of hostages released from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

    So far, both Israel and Hamas have resisted growing calls for a ceasefire.

    On Sunday the Gazan health ministry said an Israeli air strike killed at least 70 people in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the centre of the strip, with a densely populated residential block destroyed.

    The Palestine Red Crescent Society said “intense” Israeli air strikes led to the closure of main roads between Maghazi and two other refugee camps, Al-Bureij and Al-Nuseirat, “hindering the work of ambulances and rescue teams”.

    In a statement to the BBC on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had received “reports of an incident in the Maghazi camp”.

    “Despite the challenges posed by Hamas terrorists operating within civilian areas in Gaza, the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] is committed to international law including taking feasible steps to minimize harm to civilians,” it added.

  • Netanyahu rules out ceasefire with Hamas, saying ‘this is a time for war’

    Netanyahu rules out ceasefire with Hamas, saying ‘this is a time for war’

    Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying it would amount to a “surrender to Hamas”

    Speaking in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu cites the Bible as he says “this is a time for war”

    Meanwhile, UN aid agencies repeated their calls for a humanitarian ceasefire at an emergency UN Security Council meeting

    Unicef says the situation in Gaza is growing worse by the hour, and the “true cost of this latest escalation will be measured in children’s lives”

    Earlier, the Israeli military said it had rescued a soldier in Gaza – Private Ori Megidish – who was taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October

    Separately, Hamas has released a video of three hostages being held in Gaza. The BBC isn’t showing the video as we do not publish material which may have been filmed under duress

    Israel’s PM described it as “cruel psychological propaganda”, while the father of one of the women in the video said his heart “nearly stopped beating” when he saw her

    Israel has been bombing Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 people and saw at least 239 people kidnapped as hostages

    The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 8,000 people have been killed since Israel’s retaliatory bombing began

  • Retaliation against Hamas has only just begun, says Israel’s Netanyahu

    Retaliation against Hamas has only just begun, says Israel’s Netanyahu

    Israel will use “enormous force” against the Hamas militant group, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned.

    He says the Israel Defense Forces’ retaliation for the worst attack on Israeli soil in decades has only just begun.

    More than 700 people have been killed in Israel since Saturday’s surprise attack, including 260 people massacred by Hamas gunmen at a music festival.

    Since Israel began striking Gaza in response, nearly 600 people have died.

    Israel’s defence minister earlier ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, cutting off food, fuel, electricity and water supplies.

    Nine US citizens are now confirmed dead in Israel, while more than 10 British citizens are feared dead, or missing.