Netanyahu rules out ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out this Monday a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where aid does not cover, according to the UN, “the unprecedented humanitarian needs” of the population of the territory, the target of bombings and ground raids in response to the Hamas attack against Israel. Israeli airstrikes and ground operations have intensified since Friday, with the aim of “annihilating” this Palestinian Islamist movement and rescuing the 239 hostages captured during the October 7 attack, which left nearly 1,400 dead in Israel. In Gaza, more than 8,300 people were killed, including 3,457 children, in Israeli retaliatory bombings, according to health authorities in the small territory, ruled by Hamas since 2007. The armed forces “extended their land entry into the Gaza Strip, are doing it in moderate and very powerful stages, advancing methodically step by step,” Netanyahu declared after a meeting with his war cabinet. “The calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas. That will not happen,” he stressed shortly after.