Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a defiant tone as he marked 100 days of war against Hamas in Gaza, pledging to do so despite growing uncertainty over the outcome, international concern over the mounting loss of life in the enclave and fears of a larger one to continue fighting the regional conflagration.
His pledge to press on until “total victory” came as Israel awaited a decision from the world's highest court on a possible injunction against its military's devastating offensive in Gaza. The Israeli military's war against Hamas, launched in retaliation for Hamas's deadly Oct. 7 attack, has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and most of the population, according to Gaza health authorities the enclave expelled.
Mr. Netanyahu's remarks and comments from the Israeli military over the weekend warned of a long conflict and revealed a growing dissonance between domestic perceptions of the timing and goals of the war and growing international impatience with a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The United States, Israel's main ally, has called on Israel to limit its campaign, while many other countries have called for an immediate ceasefire.
“We will continue the war to the end – to complete victory, to achieving all of our objectives,” Netanyahu said in a televised press conference on Saturday evening, saying: “Eliminate Hamas, bring back all of our hostages and make sure of that. “Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel” were the goals.
“No one will stop us – not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else,” he added. In The Hague, the United Nations' highest court is hearing South Africa's allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The court's judges heard two hearings last week and will now decide whether to order Israel to take interim measures, such as halting fighting, while it considers the merits of the genocide claim. No date has been set for the announcement of this decision and in any case the court has few options to enforce its decisions.
In the same breath, Mr. Netanyahu invoked Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, whose military actions in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza he said had raised the specter of a larger conflict.
The United States carried out airstrikes on Thursday and Friday against sites in Yemen controlled by the Houthi militia in response to more than two dozen Houthi attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea since November. However, the Houthis retained much of their ability to fire missiles and drones, according to US officials.
At the same time, clashes continued on the border between Israel and Lebanon over the weekend.
An anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon on Sunday hit a house in northern Israel, killing a farmer and his mother, according to initial reports. The Israeli military said its warplanes attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and that its forces fought a firefight overnight with gunmen who advanced into Israeli-controlled territory from Lebanon. Three gunmen were killed and five soldiers were injured, the military said.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from the country's northern border areas and Israel has warned that it will resort to military action if diplomatic efforts to allow them to return home safely do not bear fruit. Thousands of Lebanese civilians have also fled the border area.
On Sunday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah struck a defiant tone. “After 99 days,” he said, “we are ready for war. We are not afraid of it.”
Currently, Israeli leaders say they are focused on Gaza.
While Mr Netanyahu acknowledged on Sunday that the war “will last for many more months”, his comments the previous evening appeared aimed as much at boosting morale at home as at countering international criticism of the military campaign.
Addressing doubters who viewed the Israeli government's goal of destroying Hamas, the militant group that has controlled Gaza for 16 years, as unrealistic, he said: “It is possible, it is necessary, and we will do it.” create.”
As the death toll in Gaza has risen, international calls for a ceasefire are growing louder. The fighting has displaced most of the enclave's 2.2 million residents and the United Nations has warned that half of the population is at risk of starvation.
“The massive death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss and grief of the last 100 days tarnish our common humanity,” Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the U.N. agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, said in a statement.
Rajab al-Sindawi, a 48-year-old man from Gaza City, said he, his wife and their seven children took shelter in a nylon tent on a sidewalk in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah and struggled to stay warm at night because they only had a few blankets.
“Nothing is fair in Gaza,” Mr. Sindawi said in a text message. “My family lacks the basic things you need in life.”
Mr. Sindawi and his family arrived in Rafah in early January after weeks of crossing the Gaza Strip in search of safety.
Israel's leaders have continued to talk about what comes next mostly in opaque military terms, at times heightening tensions with its critics and allies alike.
One such potential area of tension is reflected in Israel being under pressure to lift its evacuation orders in Gaza. But Mr. Netanyahu said
Palestinians displaced from the northern Gaza Strip would not be able to return to their homeland any time soon because it would not be safe for them. Although the Israeli military has announced that it is scaling back its operations in the north, clashes between its forces and Hamas militants continue there.
Gabi Siboni, an Israeli colonel in the reserves and a member of the conservative-leaning Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said it would be “illogical” to allow displaced Gazans to return north. Israeli troops are still working to destroy Hamas' underground tunnels, and Colonel Siboni said blowing up the tunnels risked the collapse of buildings along the route. Hamas fighters could also try to blend in with the returning civilian population, he added, and “then we're back to square one.”
Despite the widespread deaths and destruction in Gaza, Fuad Khuffash, a Hamas-affiliated analyst, insisted the armed group was winning the war. “Hamas is still firing rockets, it is still confronting and killing soldiers and it is still destroying tanks,” said Mr. Khuffash, who is based in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Addressing the toll on Gaza's people, Mr. Khuffash said: “Everyone in the world who wants to liberate their country must make a sacrifice.”
And “as for Israel,” he said, “it has not achieved any of its goals: it has not destroyed Hamas, it has not taken away Hamas's weapons, it has not killed Hamas' top leaders in Gaza, and it has not .” I did not bring back the Israeli prisoners. “In military and political terms, Hamas has achieved a victory.”
In a televised statement on Saturday evening, the Israeli military's chief of staff said plans had been approved to continue fighting and increase pressure on Hamas, which would lead to the group's dismantling and the return of hostages captured on October 7. Attack on Israel.
“Achieving these goals is complex and will take a long time,” said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, urging patience.
Of the 240 people abducted from Israel to Gaza on October 7, more than 130 remain in the enclave, according to Israeli officials, although not all are believed to be alive.
In Israel, public concern for the hostages has increased day by day.
On Sunday, a working day in Israel, there was a 100-minute work stoppage by universities, many companies, local councils and public institutions in solidarity with the hostages.
Tens of thousands of Israelis also took part in a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening to support the hostages and their families. Scores of demonstrators blocked the main highway and demanded the government immediately release the remaining prisoners.
“We are deeply concerned that our decision-makers are not prioritizing the hostages and bringing them home alive, not in boxes,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui, 35, an American citizen, was taken hostage on Oct. 7 became.
Large pro-Palestinian demonstrations also took place in London, Washington, New York and other cities on Saturday to mark the 100th day of the war. Demonstrators in London chanted “ceasefire now” and held placards reading “Gaza – Stop the Massacre.” In Washington, thousands of demonstrators also called for an end to US military aid to Israel.
Reporting was contributed by Hwaida Saad, Ameera Harouda, Roni Caryn Rabin, Gabby Sobelman, Myra Noveck and Matthew Mpoke Bigg.