Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated today, Sunday, that "Israel offered to provide fuel to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza, which has stopped functioning amid intense fighting with Hamas, but the group refused to accept it." He said, "Hamas, which hides in hospitals and operates from there, does not want fuel for the hospital. They want fuel that they will take from the hospitals for their tunnels and their war machine."
Netanyahu added, "We actually offered last night to provide them with enough fuel to operate the hospital and run the incubators, etc., because we have no battle with patients or civilians at all." The Israeli Prime Minister noted that the number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip has "decreased" due to Israel's calls for civilians to move south, mentioning that "there is no reason preventing the evacuation of patients from Shifa Hospital."
During a CNN interview, Netanyahu stated, "There is no reason preventing us from getting the patients out of there, instead of allowing Hamas to use it as a center for terrorism." He pointed out, "We requested the evacuation of all patients from this hospital, and in fact, around 100 have already been evacuated."
He clarified that French President Emmanuel Macron sent a ship as a floating hospital, and Netanyahu said he asked the UAE to send a field hospital. Netanyahu added, "It is clear that we are exercising caution when it comes to hospitals, but we will not grant immunity to terrorists. We want to protect all civilians from harm, while Hamas is doing everything it can to keep them in harm’s way."
When asked about Israel's plans for the post-war phase in Gaza, Netanyahu seemed to exclude transferring control to the Palestinian Authority, stating that "the Palestinian Authority has failed to disarm and remove extremism from Gaza in the past." He asserted that "Israel's top priority is to destroy Hamas."
Netanyahu continued that once this is achieved, there should be a "dominant Israeli military presence to prevent the return of terrorism," adding that "the civil authority must cooperate to achieve two goals: first, to disarm Gaza, and second, to denormalize extremism from Gaza." He remarked, "I must say that the Palestinian Authority has unfortunately failed in both."
The Israeli Prime Minister refused to answer whether he would take responsibility for the failure to prevent the attack on October 7 against Israel, stating that there will be time for such "difficult" questions once the war is over. In the interview, Netanyahu acknowledged that this is "a question that must be asked." He said, "We will answer all these questions," adding, "For now, I think what we need to do is unite the country for one goal: to achieve victory." He noted, "Let us focus on victory; that is my responsibility now."
Regarding the hostages, Netanyahu stated that Israel "is doing everything it can around the clock to secure the release of more than 200 hostages held by Hamas." He conveyed that "the whole world should join us in trying to release the hostages," emphasizing that the only ceasefire that would be considered "is one during which our hostages are released."
