Israel’s Netanyahu vows no let-up in war vs Hamas as Gaza deaths mount

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference with defense minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 28, 2023. ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep up the fight against Hamas militants on Monday while Palestinians mourned more than 100 people who Gaza health officials said were killed overnight in Israeli airstrikes.

Netanyahu visited Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip just hours after one of the besieged enclave’s deadliest nights in the 11-week-old battle between Israel and Hamas.

Retaliating against Hamas for its deadly Oct. 7 cross-border rampage, Israel has been under pressure from its closest ally, the United States, to shift operations in Gaza to a lower-intensity phase and reduce civilian deaths.

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But Netanyahu told lawmakers from his Likud party that the war was far from over and dismissed what he cast as media speculation his government might call a halt to the fighting. He said Israel would not succeed in freeing its remaining hostages without applying military pressure.

“We are not stopping. The war will continue until the end, until we finish it, no less,” Netanyahu, who has defied international calls for a ceasefire, said during the Gaza visit.

At a funeral in Gaza, a line of Palestinian mourners touched the white shrouds wrapped around the bodies of at least 70 people who Palestinian health officials said were killed by an airstrike that hit Maghazi in the center of the strip.

One man, Ibrahim Youssef, said his wife and four children, including a 4-month-old baby, were trapped under the rubble of the house where they were staying in Maghazi.

“What did they do wrong?” he asked. “Were there resistance fighters here?”

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The strikes that began hours before midnight persisted into Monday. Palestinian media said Israel had stepped up its air and ground shelling in central Gaza.

Health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said many of those killed at Maghazi were women and children. Eight others were killed as Israeli planes and tanks struck houses and roads in nearby al-Bureij and al-Nusseirat, health officials said.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza killed 23, bringing total Palestinian fatalities overnight to more than 100.

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Pope Francis said in a Christmas message that children dying in wars, including in Gaza, are the “little Jesuses of today” and that Israeli strikes were reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians.

The Israeli army said it was reviewing the report of a Maghazi incident and was committed to minimizing harm to civilians. Israel says Hamas operates in densely populated areas and uses civilians as human shields, which Hamas denies.