JAKARTA - Israel will continue its attacks on Hamas, including on Rafah City in southern Gaza, despite international pressure to stop it, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
"There is international pressure and this pressure continues to rise, but especially as international pressure increases, we must unite, we must unite against efforts to stop the war," he said.
About 1.5 million people are estimated to be crammed into Rafah, on the southernmost outskirts of the enclave close to the border with Egypt, most of them leaving their homes in the north to avoid Israeli military attacks.
During a speech at the graduation of Israel's military officer training school, Netanyahu also said Israel had to fight "precisely accounted for" to blame Israel for its Hamas crimes.
He added that Israel would operate throughout Gaza, "including Rafah, Hamas' last stronghold".
"Anyone who asks us not to act in Rafah means asking us to lose the war and that's not going to happen," said PM Netanyahu.
PM Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas after his fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 253 people, according to Israeli tallies.
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Meanwhile, the death toll of Palestinians as the ongoing Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 has risen to 30,800 people, the Ministry of Health said in the enclave on Thursday, quoted by Anadolu.
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