Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday in an interview that his war against Hamas in Gaza was entering a new, less intense phase. Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo
June 23 (UPI) -- The latest battle in the war between Israel and Hamas is about to wind down, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
The most "intense phase of the war with Hamas is about to end," Netanyahu said.
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The prime minister cautioned that this action does not mean the overall war in Gaza will end, but that the Israeli military will shift its focus to Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
"It doesn't mean that the war is going to end, but the war in its current stage is going to end in Rafah. This is true. We will continue mowing the grass later," Netanyahu told Channel 14 Television in his first one-on-one interview with local Israeli media since Oct. 7, CNN reported.
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Netanyahu said in the interview that he is ready to make "a partial deal" with Hamas and that he will make concessions about returning some hostages, but will persist in his stated mission "to achieve the goal of eliminating Hamas."
"I'm not ready to give that up," Netanyahu said of his mission to eliminate Hamas.
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Netanyahu added that "after the end of the intense phase, we will have the possibility to shift some of the power north, and we will do it."
"First of all, for protection purposes, and secondly, to bring our residents home as well. If we can do it politically, that would be great. If not, we will do it in another way, but we will bring everyone back home -- all the residents of the north and the south," he added.
Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from the United States and other ally nations, including those that have been supporters of Israel, as the death toll in Gaza approaches 40,000. Israel launched the war against Iran-backed Hamas in retaliation for the militia's rogue terror attack on Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and saw another roughly 250 kidnapped.
U.S. President Joe Biden has called on Netanyahu to moderate the Israel Defense Force's attacks on Gaza, which have included the shelling of a food aid operation which killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in April.
Gazans have been forced to evacuate and move south as the IDF attacks have continued, including to Rafah. Despite international condemnation, Israeli forces invaded that town, too, displacing hundreds of thousands of Gazans, many who had already been displaced, some more than once.
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Topics
Politics
Benjamin Netanyahu
Joe Biden
Gaza
Hamas
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Netanyahu: 'Intense' phase of Israel's war with Gaza coming to 'an end' June 23 (UPI) -- The latest battle in the war between Israel and Hamas is about to wind down, Israeli Prime Minister
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician, serving as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office in 1996–1999 and 2009–2021. He is chair of the Likud party.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Benjamin_Netanyahu
Crops, farms and fishing fleets have been destroyed by the bombing, there is no food for the livestock. Right now, the entire population doesn't have enough food and a high risk of famine persists in all areas of Gaza. People, including children, are already dying of malnutrition and dehydration.
The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are two Palestinian territories that were part of Mandate Palestine and were captured by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. There are over 5 million Palestinians combined living in the two territories.
Israel still occupies the West Bank and claims the whole of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a hoped-for future Palestinian state. The US is one of only a handful of countries to recognise the city as Israel's capital.
Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, the permit regime, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the Palestinian right of return.
Gaza is surrounded by blockades imposed by Israel and Egypt, which restrict movement. Israel prevents access to and from Gaza by sea and air. Land movement is restricted to three crossings: the Egypt-controlled Rafah crossing and Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings, which Israel controls.
The events of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War marked a significant turning point, leading to the evacuation of the Jewish population from Gaza. The Israeli Jewish communities established in the Gaza Strip post-1967 Six-Day War, which were later evacuated in 2005, did not encompass a Jewish community within Gaza City itself.
In 2009, there were an estimated 50,000 Christians in the Palestinian territories, mostly in the West Bank, with about 3,000 in the Gaza Strip. In 2022, about 1,100 Christians lived in the Gaza Strip – down from over 1300 in 2014. About 80% of the Christian Palestinians live in an urban environment.
The known history of Gaza spans 4,000 years. Gaza was ruled, destroyed and repopulated by various dynasties, empires, and peoples. Originally a Canaanite settlement, it came under the control of the ancient Egyptians for roughly 350 years before being conquered and becoming one of the Philistines' principal cities.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has created a humanitarian emergency. Latest estimates in Gaza indicate that more than 35,303 people have been killed and over 79,261 are injured. Access to necessities such as food, water, fuel and medical supplies has been almost completely cut off.
There is nowhere safe for people to go in Gaza. Over 75% of the population have been forced to leave their homes. People's basic needs have become wish lists. Over the last eight months, hundreds of thousands of people have sought shelter in Rafah, south of Gaza.
Gaza Strip, territory occupying 140 square miles (363 square km) along the Mediterranean Sea just northeast of the Sinai Peninsula. The Gaza Strip is unusual in being a densely settled area not recognized as a de jure part of any extant country.
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