Israel, US Tensions Over War In Gaza

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily rejected U.S. President Joe Biden’s suggestion that American support was waning for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and that a ceasefire should be reached by next week.

His comments followed Biden’s warning that Israel risks losing global support in the war.

In a recorded video message Netanyahu said that stressed he had been “countering international pressure to end the war ahead of time and mobilise support for Israel.”

He added that “We have significant successes in this area,” referring to citing a recent Harvard-Harris poll showing that 82 percent of the American public supports Israel. “This gives us more strength to continue the campaign until complete victory.”

However Biden said the U.S. hopes to have a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza “by next Monday.”

He made clear that Israel could “lose support from around the world” if it “keeps up with this incredibly conservative government they have”.

Netanyahu maintains that Israel’s army launched its attacks in Gaza after Hamas on October 7 killed some 1,200 people while kidnapping roughly 250 others in Israel.

He described them as the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah.

Yet the Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip claims at least 29,878 people have been killed in the territory since then – including 96 deaths in the past 24 hours – in addition to 70,215 who have been wounded.

Those figures have been difficult to verify in an enclave where press freedom is virtually non existent. The health ministry has declined to say how many Hamas fighters are among those killed.

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said earlier this month that 10,000 Palestinian fighters were dead and the same number wounded. “We are achieving our missions in Khan Younis, and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate terror elements that threaten us,” he added in a statement, referring to a city on Gaza’s border with Egypt packed with displaced civilians.

He said Israeli forces also dismantled the Hamas brigade in Gaza’s southern Khan Younis area as part of the four-month-old war.

The mounting death toll and injuries have impacted Hamas which had a fighting force of around 30,000 before the war began, according to Israeli sources.

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