Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at “shameful” Australia for preparing to recognise Palestinian statehood, as he defended a sweeping military offensive in Gaza. Source: The Australian.
Revealing plans to broaden the Israeli military’s Gaza plan to include dismantling Hamas in the Strip’s central refugee camps in addition to Gaza City, Mr Netanyahu told reporters: “Those who say that Israel has a right to defend itself are also saying, ‘But don’t exercise that right.’
“I think we’re actually applying force judiciously, and they know it. They know what they would do if right next to Melbourne, or right next to Sydney, you had this horrific attack. I think you would do at least what we’re doing … [although] maybe not as efficiently and as precisely as we’re doing it.”
Mr Netanyahu said Israel adamantly opposed an independent Palestine “for the simple reason that they know it won’t bring peace, it will bring war. To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole … and buy this canard, it is disappointing. And I think it’s actually shameful.”
On Saturday, Australia joined the United Kingdom, France, Canada and other allies condemning Israel’s military action in Gaza and over the weekend Anthony Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon jointly called for an immediate ceasefire in the enclave.
But Mr Netanyahu said Hamas had a de facto state in Gaza, which the militants used “to launch a war of terror against Israel,” and would do so again if it could.
He said Israel “has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas”.
Israel also wants to increase the number of aid distribution sites in Gaza, he said, but in a later briefing to local media, he asserted: “There is no hunger. There was no hunger. There was a shortage, and there was certainly no policy of starvation.”
He again blamed many of Gaza’s problems on Hamas, including civilian deaths, destruction and aid shortages.
Hamas responded with a lengthy statement that summed up Mr Netanyahu’s remarks as “blatant lies”.
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Netanyahu lashes ‘shameful’ Australia over Palestinian state (The Australian)
