Gaza devastation continues as Netanyahu promises not even The Hague will stop Israel
Gaza City, Gaza - As Israeli strikes continued to pound Gaza on Sunday, far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed impunity, even from the International Court of Justice.
Netanyahu, whose government has faced growing international pressure over the staggering civilian death toll in Gaza, marked 100 days since the start of the war with an aggressive speech.
"We are continuing the war until the end," he said, "until total victory, until we achieve all of our goals: eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will never again constitute a threat to Israel."
With his country fresh from defending itself in front of the ICJ against grave genocide accusations made by South Africa, Netanyahu – whose statements featured heavily in the proceedings – made an alarming promise: "We will restore security to both the south and the north. Nobody will stop us. Not The Hague, not the axis of evil, and not anybody else."
Israel has killed some 24,000 people in Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas attacks that killed just over 1,100 people and led to the kidnapping of 250 others.
The strip's population is suffering from catastrophic shortages of food, water, medicine, and fuel, and the health system – relentlessly assaulted by Israeli troops – is collapsing.
"The massive death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss and grief of the last 100 days are staining our shared humanity," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, during a visit to Gaza on Saturday.
He warned an entire generation of children – who have been killed in unprecedented numbers over the course of Israel's war – were being "traumatized," diseases were spreading and the clock was "ticking fast towards famine."
Cover photo: Collage: REUTERS