The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting over Israel's plans to reoccupy Gaza. Despite strong condemnations of Israel's plans, the Security Council will not adopt a special resolution. The European members of the Security Council have strongly condemned the plans and called on Israel not to do so. Before the meeting, a joint statement by several members of the Security Council was read by Ambassador Samuel Žbogar , calling on Israel to lift restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid.
This plan may violate international humanitarian law. The Security Council has consistently called for the unconditional and immediate release of the hostages. We are also clear that Hamas must disarm and must not participate in the future governance of Gaza, where the Palestinian Authority must play a central role. However, this decision by the Israeli government will not contribute to the return of the hostages and may further endanger their lives, according to a joint statement by Great Britain, Denmark, France, Greece, and Slovenia.
Netanyahu: We will not capitulate to Hamas
In Gaza, more than 100 children have died from malnutrition. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the planned expansion of military operations and said he did not want to continue the war. Since Hamas refused to disarm, Israel must do the work, he said.
He assured that he did not want to prolong the war, because that could mean that one of the hostages would die of starvation. We are discussing creative ways to free the hostages while we approach Hamas, he announced the day after tens of thousands of people again protested on the streets of Israel for an end to the war and the release of all hostages. He asserted that Israel does not want to stay in Gaza, nor does it intend to capitulate to Hamas. If they did, they would get all the hostages back, he said. He also said that several potential candidates are being sought to govern Gaza after the war.
He strongly condemned media reports of the famine in Gaza. If Israel pursued a policy of starvation, no one in Gaza would survive, he said. He announced a three-phase plan to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza: distributing it through safe corridors for the distribution of humanitarian aid, increasing the number of GHF distribution points, and increasing supplies through airlifts.
He also announced a lawsuit against the New York Times for using a picture of a starving child on the front page, which he said had underlying health problems. The prime minister insisted that the child's mother and brother were healthy. The newspaper would not publish a correction. He compared the media's reporting in general to the vicious lies told about the Jewish people in the Middle Ages.
