Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indulged in a US media blitz in recent days, at a time when American public opinion has become increasingly divided over Israel’s military action in Gaza and the rising number of civilian casualties.
But in a new interview with CBS, he made a startling admission – surprising especially given the current criticism leveled at him after international institutions, including a panel of UN experts – have accused Israel of committing ‘genocide’ and ‘war crimes’. Netanyahu acknowledged to CBS that Israel has done so have failed to minimize civilian casualties.
He ultimately blamed Hamas for this, while promising that the Israeli army would “try to finish the job” of eradicating the Islamic terror group.
But he surprisingly emphasized it blunt words: “That’s what we’re trying to do: as few civilian casualties as possible. But unfortunately we have no success.”
He presented the context as one in which Hamas prevented civilians from leaving northern Gaza “at gunpoint.” He claimed that Hamas “fired on the safe corridors we had provided for the Palestinians.”
Israel has distributed hundreds of thousands of leaflets across Gaza in recent weeks, warning citizens to leave northern Gaza, which includes the densely populated Gaza City, and move south. But this week Israel also ordered areas in the south to evacuate as well. Palestinians have said they have nowhere to go, partly because the Rafah border crossing into Egypt remains closed to all but foreign passport holders.
“Every civilian death is a tragedy. And we shouldn’t have that, because we’re doing everything we can to keep citizens out of harm’s way, while Hamas is doing everything it can to endanger them” Netanyahu explained.
Palestinian officials have attempted to refute the Israeli-American narrative framing of the Gaza crisis at the UN:
The White House has belatedly begun to warn Israel that it must exercise restraint when it comes to “targets” such as Al-Shifa Hospital. Israel now has military control over it, but many Palestinians have remained inside.
According to Al Jazeera, at least 22 mainly ICU patients died overnight. A Friday report quotes Al-Shifa director Muhammed Abu Salmiya as saying that “7,000 people – patients, medics and other civilians seeking shelter – are trapped in the hospital, and the complex remains cut off from water, electricity and communications.”
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Given that Netanyahu has just plainly admitted that his forces have been slaughtering civilians, and that they are “unsuccessful” in preventing the rising death toll of innocent bystanders… will he get the Assad treatment among Western human rights institutions and media? We won’t hold our breath…
Watch Netanyahu’s CBS interview below:
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