Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to facilitating humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip, while underscoring the ongoing necessity of the IDF’s military campaign against the Hamas terror organization.
“Israel will continue working alongside international agencies, as well as with the US and European countries, to ensure that substantial humanitarian aid continues flowing into Gaza,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
As part of these efforts, the Prime Minister noted, Israel has paused IDF operations in key civilian areas of Gaza daily between 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., and has established designated humanitarian corridors operating from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. to allow the safe passage of aid convoys.
“Significant amounts of humanitarian aid—including food, water, and medicine—are already entering Gaza every day,” Netanyahu emphasized.
The Prime Minister condemned Hamas for its exploitation of the civilian population in Gaza, saying the terror group routinely steals aid meant for residents and uses hospitals, schools, and kindergartens to hide weapons and operate command centers.
“Hamas uses civilians as human shields and has repeatedly seized aid deliveries by force, at times even firing on Palestinians,” he said.
While acknowledging the difficult humanitarian situation in Gaza, Netanyahu stressed that Hamas has sought to manipulate global perception by disseminating unverified casualty figures and staged or doctored images to international media.
“We are fighting a just war, a moral war, for our very survival,” the Prime Minister stated. “No sovereign nation would tolerate the presence of a genocidal terror organization on its border, let alone one that crossed into its territory on October 7th to butcher over 1,200 innocent people, burn babies alive, and massacre teenagers at a music festival.”
Netanyahu noted that Hamas has openly vowed to carry out additional attacks similar to the October 7th massacre.
“Israel will continue to act responsibly, as it always has, and will persist in its efforts to secure the release of the hostages and dismantle Hamas. That is the only path to a future of genuine peace for both Israelis and Palestinians,” he concluded.