Israel-Hamas war: Benjamin Netanyahu admits failure in minimising civilian casualties
Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview on Thursday (Nov 16) that Israel is aiming at "minimal civilian casualties", but he also admitted that they have unfortunately been unsuccessful.
During an interview with CBS News, he said that the Palestine-based militant organisation Hamas "doesn't give a hoot" about the civilians.
He said, "We'll try to finish that job with minimal civilian casualties, that's what we're trying to do, minimal civilian casualties, but unfortunately we're not successful."
Netanyahu said that the overall military responsibility of Israel is to "prevent the re-emergence of terror" in Gaza. He denied reoccupation of the coastal enclave.
Hamas, a militant group which has been designated a terrorist organisation by many Western nations, launched an unprecedented attack on Oct 7. As per Israeli authorities, the attack killed over 1,200 people and around 200 were taken as hostages.
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Watch: Israel's opposition asks Netanyahu to resign
On being asked about the possibility of a hostage deal with Hamas leaders, Netanyahu said that the return of the hostages is one of Israel's main goals in the war, besides destroying Hamas and ensuring "that terrorist threat never rises again from Gaza, and that Gaza has a different future".
He said, "We are closer than before we began the ground action."
"The ground action has put pressure on Hamas to achieve a ceasefire. We'll have a temporary ceasefire if we can get our hostages. I don't think it serves that purpose for me to elaborate further on that," he added.
Intel about hostages at Al-Shifa hospital
Netanyahu also said that there were "strong indications" that hostages held by Hamas were at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, but they were no longer there when the Israeli military launched a ground operation there earlier this week.
"We had strong indications that they were held in the Shifa Hospital, which is one of the reasons we entered the hospital," Netanyahu told the media outlet.
He said, "If they were [there], they were taken out, further adding that his government has "intelligence about the hostages," but declined to be more specific.
"The less I say about it, the better," he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.