Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after the release of a video by the terrorist group showing three of their hostages.
Hamas released a video on Monday that showed three women, believed to have been hostages identified by Netanyahu as Yelena Trupanob, Danielle Aloni, and Rimon Kirsht.
The women called for an agreement to secure their release in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu stated that wars inevitably involve unintended civilian casualties and that Israel’s assault on Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, was a battle between “civilization and barbarism”.
Netanyahu said it is time “to decide if we are willing to fight for a future of hope and promise or surrender to tyranny and terror”.
“Just as the United States would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack of 911, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of October 7.
“Calls for a ceasefire are a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen.
“The Bible says that there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war,” he added.
The US has also confirmed that it didn’t believe that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is currently the right option.
The US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby explained that a ceasefire right now would benefit Hamas, and consequently, it doesn’t think Israel should agree to it.
In its stead, the US government is pushing for temporary, localised humanitarian pauses aimed at aid and supporting people to find ways out of danger.
Meanwhile, Save the Children has reported that every ten minutes one child is being killed in Gaza, and that one in three of the 20,000 civilians injured are children.
Overcrowding and poor hygiene, coupled with a lack of medical supplies, mean that there is an increasing concern over the spread of communicable diseases like influenza.
Since the conflict began on October 7 the Palestinian authorities confirmed that more than 8,000 people have lost their lives.
