Netanyahu rejects growing calls for cease-fire in Gaza

Civilians and rescuers look for survivors following Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis. Pics/AFP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Saturday against growing international calls for a cease-fire, saying Israel's battle to crush Gaza's ruling Hamas militants will continue with "full force".

A cease-fire would be possible only if all 239 hostages held by militants in Gaza are released, Netanyahu said in a televised address.

The Israeli leader also insisted that after the war, now entering its sixth week, Gaza would be demilitarized and Israel would retain security control there. Asked what he meant by security control, Netanyahu said Israeli forces must be able to enter Gaza freely to hunt down militants.

Displaced Palestinian kids wait for breakfast at a refugee camp in Rafah

Pressure was growing on Israel after frantic doctors at Gaza's largest hospital said the last generator had run out of fuel, causing the death of a premature baby, another child in an incubator and four other patients. Thousands of war-wounded, medical staff and displaced civilians were caught in the fighting.

In recent days, fighting near Shifa and other hospitals in northern Gaza has intensified and supplies have run out. The Israeli military has alleged, without providing evidence, that Hamas has established command posts in and underneath hospitals, using civilians as human shields.

Hamas opens fire at soldiers during evacuation

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that Givati Brigade troops identified civilians in a building in Gaza City's al-Shati camp and enabled them to evacuate. The IDF said that Hamas opened fire at the soldiers during the evacuation. According to the IDF, the troops returned fire and tanks fired on terrorists and killed them. In another incident, the IDF said that the soldiers identified a group of Hamas operatives holed up in a building in al-Shati and directed an airstrike to eliminate them.

Also read: UN office releases statistics on death toll in Gaza and West Bank

‘No Palestinian authority anymore'

Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem on Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza after the war. Netanyahu said, "Total security control with the ability to enter whenever you want to eliminate terrorists who could re-emerge." He added, "No matter what, There will be no Hamas... there will not be a civil authority that educates children to hate and kill Israelis, to eliminate Israel... There cannot be an authority there whose leader did not condemn this terrible massacre more than 30 days later."

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