Netanyahu won’t say who the new government is for Gaza
Palestinians in Gaza: Israel wants to destroy Hamas, free the hostages it’s holding, and give Gaza a different future
Benjamin Netanyahu told NPR that Israel wants to do three things in Gaza: destroy Hamas, free the hostages it’s holding and give Gaza a different future.
But the interview with Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep was notable for what the prime minister did not say: who he thinks should govern the territory with a population of 2.3 million, now devastated by six weeks of Israeli bombing.
Israel is responding to an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. The Israeli response has been said to have killed more than 11,000. Israeli troops this week took over a major hospital center in northern Gaza.
Israel allowed Hamas to rule Gaza so that it would not have to, before October 7. Israel says that Hamas can’t rule.
An Israeli military officer told NPR in November that there should be a mixture of local and international forces in Gaza, but no one had emerged to take this role.
And he called for a similar “cultural change” in Gaza to those that took place in Germany and Japan when those countries transitioned from authoritarian rule to democracies after surrendering to the Allies. He added that any government in Gaza should be committed to fighting terrorism, not funding it.
The controlled visit will not settle the question of whether Hamas, the armed Palestinian group that rules Gaza, has been using Al-Shifa Hospital to hide weapons and command centers, as Israel has said.
Netanyahu claimed on Friday that Israeli forces had evidence of their allegations about Al-Shifa. He told National Public Radio that a lot of terrorists were there, but they fled as the forces approached the hospital.
Netanyahu claimed that troops found weapons, bombs and a major command center in the hospital and that Israel had assumed control of it. He added that as troops moved in, they brought Arabic-speaking doctors and incubators with them.
Hospitals are protected by the convention, but there are some safeguards. Netanyahu has said that a cease-fire can’t happen until all hostages are released.
Israeli soldiers from the Seventh Brigade escorted journalists to see a stone-and-concrete shaft on the grounds of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Thursday.
The commander of Israels Seventh brigade, Elad Tsury said his forces had not ventured down the shaft because of booby traps. He said it had been discovered earlier in the day under a pile of sand on the northern perimeter of the complex.
In the darkness, it was unclear where the shaft led or how deep it went, although the military said it had sent a drone down at least several meters. Electrical wiring was visible inside, along with a metal staircase.
“We found a lot of weapons — a lot,” he added. We found a lot of weapons. We found bombs. We found on level minus-two a command and control center of Hamas, with military encoded encryption.”
For the duration of their stay in Gaza, two reporters and a photographer with The Times were required to remain with Israeli troops. They agreed not to photograph most soldiers’ faces, landmarks, maps and certain details of weapons. The Times did not allow the Israeli military to screen its coverage before publication.
Colonel Tsury said the military had provided food, supplies and medical equipment to patients and doctors, an assertion that could not be immediately verified.
The extent of the damage to the hospital was not entirely clear. The main emergency building appeared intact after a dayslong siege that resulted in increasingly dire conditions.
Gunfire rattled nearby throughout The Times’s visit, giving the impression of ongoing gun battles in nearby streets. To get into the hospital grounds journalists were escorted by special forces through the bombed-out remains of a building on the outskirts of the site, but they decided against it because it was too dangerous to go through the main gate.
The extent of the destruction had left parts of Gaza look like junkyards. Sections of the city’s seafront promenade had been razed to the ground, apartment blocks had been hollowed out by shelling and others flattened by airstrikes. Constant tank traffic had also churned the main coastal road into a bumpy dirt track.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country wants to do three things in Gaza: destroy Hamas, free the hostages it’s holding and give Gaza a different future. Israel is responding to an attack by Hamas on October 7 which killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Israeli troops this week took over a major hospital centre in northern Gaza.