‘No one will stop us’: Netanyahu
During a video address, the Israeli prime minister has said that Israel will not be deterred by any ruling from the International Court of Justice.
The court is currently in deliberation after hearing arguments from both Israel and South Africa, which accused Israel of committing genocide as it continues its assault on Gaza. “No one will stop us. Not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil, no one,” Netanyahu said.
In his video address, the Israeli prime minister said that his country has not decided whether or not to seize the Philadelphia Corridor, which runs along Gaza’s border with Egypt.
Earlier today, US newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel is planning a military operation to seize control of the corridor, and had informed Egypt of its intentions to do so. The report cited unnamed “current and former Israeli officials and Egyptian officials”.
Netanyahu told reporters that isolating Hamas by surrounding them was a goal of the Gaza war, but that “there are a number of options.”
Israel plans military buildup
More from the Israeli prime minister, as he tells reporters that Israel is planning a “huge” addition to its defence budget, adding that one goal was an independent military manufacturing sector. He said that in eight weeks, a plan would presented for “the huge additional [funding], to create that independence in force build-up and in other things required to ensure our security in the coming years”.
Israel Plans Risky Mission to Seize Last Gaza Border it Doesn’t Control
A military operation along Gaza’s southern border would be tricky, with Egypt on one side and a million displaced Palestinians concentrated on the other
Since it pulled out of the Gaza Strip nearly two decades ago, Israel has controlled all of the Palestinian enclave’s borders except one. Now it is pushing to retake control of the southern frontier with Egypt.
Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, say Israel must have a grip on the border area, which the Israeli military calls the Philadelphi Corridor, to block Hamas from smuggling weapons into the strip. It is part of Israel’s strategy to defeat the Palestinian militant group and to prevent a repeat of its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that officials there say killed more than 1,200 people, mainly civilians.
Netanyahu says border between Egypt and Gaza must be closed prior to war's end
Palestinians talk to an Egyptian soldier at the border in Rafah, Gaza, on January 11
The border between Egypt and Gaza must be closed before Israel's war with Hamas is finished, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday.
During a news briefing on Israel's 100th day of war with Hamas, Netanyahu stressed that Israel can’t finish the war until the closure of the Philadelphi Corridor, a 14-kilometer (roughly 8.6-mile) strip of land that serves as the border between Egypt and Gaza. "We’ll destroy Hamas, we’ll demilitarize Gaza, and military equipment and other deadly weapons will continue to enter this southern opening — so of course we need to close it," Netanyahu said.
There are different ways Israel can take over the corridor, but officials have not decided exactly how they would proceed with doing so, Netanyahu said, further emphasizing that the only decision they have made is that the crossing "must be closed."
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