- Benjamin Netanyahu ignored pleas from world leaders for a ceasefire
- Pope Francis calls on him to stop the war “in the name of God”
- Jordanian Foreign Minister says Israel is “losing its humanity”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night defied Gaza ceasefire calls from Pope Francis and Middle Eastern leaders, as the Israeli army rained hell on the Gaza Strip as part of its ongoing “circular” campaign against the Strip.
Fires engulfed entire buildings in the Gaza Strip as the IDF continued its bombing campaign, with the Israeli Prime Minister telling IDF forces at Ramon Air Base in southern Israel that the war would only stop when Hamas was completely destroyed.
“Our enemies have misjudged us. There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages,” Netanyahu said.
“This should be completely deleted from the dictionary.” We say this to our friends and our enemies. We will simply continue until we defeat them. We have no alternative.
The tough rhetoric comes as world leaders, including immediate neighbors, have appealed to the 74-year-old to stop the ongoing bombardment of the enclave.
Pope Francis called for providing humanitarian aid and assistance to the wounded in Gaza in order to alleviate the “extremely dangerous” situation.
“I keep thinking about the dangerous situation in Palestine and Israel where so many people have lost their lives. I call on you to stop in the name of God, to stop the fire,” he said, speaking to crowds in St. Peter’s Square after the weekly Angelus prayer on Sunday.
He added: “I hope that everything in our power will be done to avoid a widening of the conflict, to rescue the wounded, and for aid to reach the people of Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is very serious.”
Meanwhile, Ayman Safadi, the foreign minister of Jordan, which shares a border with Israel, lamented that “Israel is losing its humanity in this war” after airstrikes hit two refugee camps in central Gaza, killing at least 53. people and injured dozens.
“This madness cannot continue and this war must stop,” Al-Safadi told Sky News.
“No one benefits, on the contrary, everyone loses.”
The Israeli military says it has already “completely cordoned off Gaza City” and is carrying out “large-scale strikes on terror infrastructure” underground and above it after uncovering what they say is more evidence of Hamas’s “Terror City” tunnel network.
Amid reports of “violent clashes” between Israeli forces and Hamas, the Hamas government in Gaza claimed that Israeli forces carried out “intense bombardment” around several hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip, shortly after cutting off telecommunications.
It was reported that the Gaza Strip was experiencing a communications outage for the third time since the beginning of the war, while the Israeli army announced that it had besieged Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two parts.
Israeli army spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said last night: “Today there is North Gaza and South Gaza,” describing it as an “important stage” in the war against Hamas. Israeli media reported that forces are expected to enter Gaza City within 48 hours.
This came at a time when Israel accused Hamas of committing war crimes, and revealed new evidence that it says proves that the movement is using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as military bases while preventing civilians from escaping.
“Hamas is weak without human shields,” Hajari said, after releasing previously classified intelligence that he said had been shared with partner agencies from the US and UK.
He showed aerial photos of Hamas rocket launchers near the “Indonesian” hospital in Gaza, and said that the terrorists knew that the Israeli army could not launch an air strike that would cause collateral damage to the hospital.
Amid severe fuel shortages for hospitals and homes, Hajari said more materials shared by the IDF show that “there is no fuel shortage in Gaza.” It is in the hands of Hamas. They steal it from hospitals.
He added that some of this fuel was stored under the Indonesian hospital, which was only 75 meters from the launch site, and that the building was actually constructed above Hamas’ “Terror City,” the spidery network of tunnels beneath the enclave.
There was also a recording of a Gaza official telling a colleague: “They say there is a fuel shortage in Gaza, they are liars, liars,” in a recorded conversation that Hajari said the United States verified.
At another civilian facility, Sheikh Hamad Hospital, known as the “Qatari” hospital, Hagari showed what he said was photographic evidence of tunnel entrances next to the building discovered by Israeli forces.
He also showed video clips of Hamas gunmen shooting Israelis from inside the hospital.
There were videos and audio clips showing that Hamas was actively preventing the evacuation of civilians from the northern Gaza Strip, which the Israelis encouraged by dropping 1.5 million leaflets, 6 million pre-recorded phone calls and 4.4 million SMS messages.
During one call, said to be recorded to a resident of Jabalia refugee camp, an Israeli army officer told them in Arabic: “No place will be safe.”
He said some of this fuel was stored under the Indonesian hospital, which was only 75 meters from the launch site, and that the building was actually constructed above Hamas’ “Terror City,” the spidery network of tunnels beneath the enclave.
Hajari showed pictures of Hamas vehicles blocking the exit route from northern Gaza and said that its fighters fired anti-tank weapons at Israeli forces who opened a humanitarian corridor to allow more evacuations.
The new intelligence came to light at a time when the Israeli army said it had divided the besieged coastal enclave into two parts.
He added that the forces “reached the coast and are controlling it.”
“There are now large-scale strikes on the terrorist infrastructure – both underground and above ground,” Hajjari said.
Dramatic images on Sunday evening showed huge fireballs rising over Gaza City in the north of the country, which Hamas blamed on Israeli bombing.
Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas government’s media office, said: “More than an hour ago, there was intense bombardment around hospitals.”
The area adjacent to Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in the Palestinian territories, witnessed particularly severe strikes, according to Marouf.
The bombing came after the Israeli army once again accused Hamas of using hospitals in its military campaign against Israel.
“Hamas is placing troops and weapons in, under and around schools, mosques, homes and UN facilities,” Hajari told reporters on Sunday.
He added: “Among the worst war crimes committed by Hamas is the use of hospitals to hide its terrorist infrastructure.” Hamas has repeatedly rejected this charge.
In response to a question about the action that Israel will take against the Hamas facilities that he specified, he said: “I cannot say more, but the matter must end,” adding that “Israel abides by international law.”
Israel has relentlessly bombed the besieged Gaza Strip in its battle to destroy Hamas, flattening entire city blocks and killing more than 9,700 people, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Israeli authorities say the attack on Gaza came after Hamas militants stormed the border on October 7 and killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians.
As Israel’s relentless bombing of the Gaza Strip continues into its thirtieth day, the conflict threatens to expand into an all-out war on another front.
As daily cross-border gunfire continues between Hezbollah and the IDF across the Israeli/Lebanese border, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevy said today that his army is ready to attack.
“We have set a goal of restoring a much better security situation on the border, not just in the Gaza Strip,” Halevy says during an assessment at the 210th Division in northern Israel today.
He added: “We are ready at any moment to attack in the north. He added: “We understand that this could happen, and we trust that the defense here is strong.”
Tensions escalated just one day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to escalate the war against Israel, warning of a “real battle.”
The leader of the powerful group praised Al-Aqsa Flood, the name Hamas used for its ferocious attack last month.
He said that the “glorious jihad operation” led to an “earthquake” in the Jewish state, revealed the weakness of Israel and its army, and established a new historical stage in the battle.
Addressing the United States, Nasrallah said: “Your fleet in the Mediterranean does not frighten us. We are ready to confront the fleet with which you threaten us.” “Whoever wants to prevent a regional war must stop the aggression against Gaza quickly.”
He added that the United States is “obstructing the ceasefire and ending the aggression.”
His heavily armed group, backed by Iran, carried out simultaneous attacks on Israeli positions along the Lebanese border, with residents of southern Lebanon reporting the heaviest Israeli strikes to date.
The Israeli army said that its planes bombed Hezbollah targets in response to its attack, combining air strikes with artillery and tank shelling.
