Netanyahu says Israel has ‘no choice’ but to continue fighting in Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced again Saturday that Israel has “no choice” but to continue fighting in Gaza and will not end the war before destroying Hamas, freeing the hostages and ensuring that the territory won’t present a threat to Israel.

The prime minister also repeated his vow to make sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu is under growing pressure at home not only from families of hostages and their supporters but also from reservist and retired Israeli soldiers who question the continuation of the war after Israel shattered a ceasefire last month. In his statement, he claimed that Hamas has rejected Israel’s latest proposal to free half the hostages for a continued ceasefire.

The prime minister spoke after Israeli strikes killed more than 90 people in 48 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said Saturday. Israeli troops have been increasing their attacks to pressure Hamas to release the hostages and disarm.

At least 11 people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis.

Four other people were killed in strikes in Rafah city, according to the European Hospital, where the bodies were taken.

Israel’s military in a statement said it killed more than 40 terrorist over the weekend. Separately, it said a soldier was killed Saturday in northern Gaza and confirmed it was the first soldier death since Israel resumed the war on March 18.

Israel has vowed to intensify attacks across Gaza and occupy indefinitely large “security zones” inside the small coastal strip of over 2 million people. Hamas wants Israeli forces to withdraw from the territory.

Israel also has blockaded Gaza for the past six weeks, again barring the entry of food and other goods.

On Friday, the head of the World Health Organization’s eastern Mediterranean office, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, urged the new U.S. ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, to push the country to lift Gaza’s blockade.

“I would wish for him to go in and see the situation firsthand,” she said.

The war began when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas currently holds 59 hostages, 24 of them believed to be alive.

Israel’s offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Frustration has been growing on both sides, with rare public protests against Hamas in Gaza and continued weekly rallies in Israel pressing the government to reach a deal to bring all hostages home.