Tel Aviv, Dec 24: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is a sovereign nation and there was no pressure from the US in the ongoing war in Gaza strip.
Netanyahu said this while responding to reports claiming the US was preventing Israel from carrying out operations. In a statement, Netanyahu said: “There have been reports that the US has prevented, and is preventing, us from carrying out operations in the region. This is not true. Israel is a sovereign country. Our decisions on the war are based on our operational considerations, and not external pressures.” He also said that there was no other choice other than to fight.
Netanyahu said that he had spoken to US President Joe Biden and informed him that Israel will continue with the war until it reaches victory.
The Prime Minister, while addressing the Israeli cabinet on Sunday said that “it was a difficult morning after a difficult Saturday” that saw the death of 14 IDF soldiers in Gaza. Netanyahu’s opposition party members have been criticising him, saying the current Israeli government was acting according to US dictum. Meanwhile, Netanyahu also thanked the US and President Joe Biden for supporting Israel in the UN resolution on Gaza.
A weekend of combat kills 14 Israeli soldiers
Fourteen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, the Israeli military said Sunday, in some of the bloodiest days of battle since the start of the ground offensive and a sign that Hamas is still putting up a fight despite weeks of brutal war.
The mounting death toll among Israeli troops is likely to play an important factor in Israeli public support for the war, which was sparked when Hamas-led militants stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage. The war has devastated parts of the Gaza Strip, killed roughly 20,400 Palestinians and displaced nearly 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said 166 people were killed in the coastal enclave over the past day. Israelis still stand firmly behind the country’s stated goals of crushing Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and releasing the remaining 129 captives. (Agencies)
