Israeli PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected US President Joe Biden’s comments that Israel’s approach to the war in Gaza was hurting Israel more than helping Israel.
In an interview with Politico, Netanyahu also disputed the health ministry’s death toll in Hamas-ruled Gaza, saying their figure included “at least 13,000 terrorist fighters” killed by Israeli forces.
“If Biden means that I am pursuing a personal policy against the majority, the will of the majority of Israeli citizens, and that this is detrimental to Israel’s interests, then he is wrong on both counts,” Netanyahu told the publication.
His comments came one day after Biden said Netanyahu “should pay more attention to the lives lost as a consequence of the actions taken” in Gaza.
Biden, who has supported Israel during its five-month war with Hamas but whose frustration with Netanyahu has become increasingly apparent, offered his criticism in an interview with MSNBC.
Netanyahu’s failure to bring home hostages still held by Hamas militants, whose Oct. 7 attack on Israel sparked the war, has led to regular protests in Israel and demands for early elections, including in Tel Aviv again on Saturday night.
Also read: Hamas says death toll from Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has reached 10 thousand
Netanyahu told Politico “the vast majority of people are united like never before. And they understand what is good for Israel.”
He added his policy is “supported by the vast majority of the Israeli population,” who support “the actions we are taking to destroy the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions.”
The war in Gaza began with an unexpected Hamas attack on October 7 against southern Israel, which killed around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an official AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Also read: The US only asks for a pause in Gaza, not a ceasefire
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 31,045 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
However, Netanyahu said in the interview that this figure included 13,000 militants.
“The number of civilian casualties is not 30,000, not even 20,000. It is much less than that,” Netanyahu said, as quoted by the Bild newspaper, which like Politico is owned by German publisher Axel Springer.
Also read: Biden Supports Israel’s Statement on Bombing of Gaza Hospital
“How do I know that? Because our forces have killed at least 13,000 terrorist fighters,” he said, without explaining how the figure was derived.
Hamas is considered a terrorist group by most Western countries. The group did not reveal how many of its militants died in fighting.
Netanyahu added that Israelis “are saying that after we destroy Hamas, the last thing we should do is hand Gaza over to a Palestinian Authority that educates its children towards terrorism and pays for terrorism.”
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Netanyahu has faced global criticism and defied the United States, which provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, by rejecting calls for a Palestinian state.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken about reforming the Palestinian Authority, which has some administrative authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in a way that could “merge” it and Gaza under PA leadership.
However, Netanyahu said Israelis “also support my position that we must firmly reject attempts to force a Palestinian state down our throats.” (AFP/Z-3)
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