SAYS KHATIB / AFP
These images from Rafah show ongoing Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 9, 2023.
MIDDLE EAST – The war between Israel and Hamas enters its 64th day this Saturday, December 9, and threatens to get worse. The day after the US vetoed a UN resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are raising their voices again.
“Other countries must understand that we cannot, on the one hand, support the elimination of Hamas and, on the other hand, demand an end to the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas,” said Benjamin Netanyahu this Saturday evening. “So Israel will continue its just war to destroy Hamas,” he said.
The Israeli leader also used this speech to welcome “the appropriate position of the United States in the UN Security Council.”
Latest sign of Washington's solid support for Tel Aviv: The American government approved “urgently” and without congressional approval the sale of almost 14,000 tank shells to Israel for its war against Hamas. Equipment worth $106.5 million to equip the Merkava main battle tanks involved in the offensive.
“Increase military pressure”
For his part, the head of the Israeli army, Herzi Halevi, called for an “increase in military pressure” on Palestinian territory during a ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The general said: “Every day we see more and more terrorists being killed, more and more terrorists being injured and in the last few days we are seeing terrorists surrendering.”
New Israeli air and naval bombardments were also reported in the Gaza Strip this Saturday, with the Israeli army saying it was targeting “terrorist targets” while its “ground forces continued to fight in various locations.”
Hamas has also claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on southern Israel, and images distributed by the armed wing of Islamic Jihad (the other major Islamist movement in Gaza) show fighters firing mortar shells at Israelis near Khan Younès, the epicenter of the conflict in recent days Firing forces.
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