– Where do you want me, asks Naftali Bennett (51) as he arrives at Raanana Park close to his home in the north of Tel Aviv. The former prime minister can often be seen on international TV channels such as CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera. There he actively defends Israel’s brutal warfare on the Gaza Strip. GOING FAR: Former Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, believes Israel goes to great lengths to target civilians in the war. Photo: Ksenia Novikova – We are fighting for our lives. Hamas raped our women. They murdered our babies. We are fighting back, says the former prime minister to news. The New York Times has investigated the allegations of rape. They have spoken to witnesses and medical experts who claim that many Israeli women were raped during the October 7 terrorist attack. Israeli authorities have found no evidence that babies were beheaded during the terrorist attack, as several government officials have claimed. But at least two infants were among the roughly 1,200 Israelis killed, and 12 of the victims were younger than ten, according to the Times of Israel. – Gives people plenty of time to evacuate Naftali Bennett led the Zionist right-wing New Right party in the 2021 election. In a coalition with seven other parties, including the left and an Arab party, Bennett pushed Benjamin Netanyahu out of the prime minister’s office. In June 2021, Bennet became Israel’s 13th Prime Minister, a role he held for a year and a half. He says that Israel goes further than any other country to protect civilians in the war. – We do not carpet bomb Gaza. Otherwise, it would take 24 hours to win the entire war, says Bennett, who has also been defense minister in Israel. – We send text messages, sometimes we drop leaflets. We give people plenty of time to evacuate before we attack, he claims. But there are no safe places to seek protection from the Israeli bombs, according to the UN, which has said that Gaza is the world’s most dangerous place to be a child. – They are not safe in hospital. They are not safe in shelters. And they are certainly not safe in the so-called “safe zones”, James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s organization UNICEF, has stated. Amnesty International believes that Israeli forces may have committed war crimes due to widespread indiscriminate bombing of civilian neighborhoods in Gaza. – They have pulverized street after street and killed civilians on a large scale, says Agnès Callamard, the Secretary General of Amnesty International. In the last three months, at least 21,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities. 70 percent of these are children and women. MASS GRAVE: Killed Palestinians are buried in a mass grave in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. The picture is from 26 December. Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP Even US President Joe Biden has said that Israel is carrying out indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Gaza. – They are starting to lose that support with the indiscriminate bombing that is taking place, the US president said in December. Bennett rejects the criticism. – It’s wrong. I served as a commander in the defense and I know that we never deliberately target civilians. But when Hamas is determined to sacrifice its own population, there is little we can do. “Stupid bombs” Israel has dropped around 30,000 bombs over the Gaza Strip. Half of these are so-called “dumb bombs”, according to an overview CNN has made. They are bombs that are not guided by guidance systems to hit their targets. They are imprecise, cause major material damage and pose a huge risk to civilians, according to weapons experts the American news channel has spoken to. GREAT DESTRUCTION: The image shows military vehicles in Gaza and shows destruction from the Gaza Strip. The picture is from 29 December. Photo: JACK GUEZ / AFP – Why does Israel use weapons that kill indiscriminately, if you are concerned with protecting civilians? – All our bombs are dropped in a targeted manner. But some of them lack the precision system that makes them more precise, says Naftali Bennett. – But other countries avoid using imprecise weapons in densely populated areas. Why doesn’t Israel do the same? – Because they kill our children. We must do everything we can to protect ourselves. We lack precise weapons, and use what we have. If Norway wants to provide its precision weapons, we will gladly use them. QUEUES: Both children and adults stand in line in the hope of getting some food. Picture is from 8 November. Photo: Hatem Ali / AP Fears of famine Around 900,000 people in Gaza risk experiencing famine by February, the UN fears. Israel and Egypt control the borders. Together they decide what gets in and out of the coastal strip with 2.2 million inhabitants. – Why doesn’t Israel let in more food, emergency aid, water, medicine and fuel? – Israel does not limit supplies of food, bread and water. – But the need in the Gaza Strip is at least 500 trucks daily, according to the UN. Around 200 trucks are now arriving from Israel and Egypt. – Israel does not limit emergency aid supplies. But the trucks don’t just include food and water. They also contain fuel that the terrorists use in the fight against us. That’s why we don’t let fuel in, says the former prime minister. Israel struggles in Gaza Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set three goals before the war: remove Hamas from power, bring home all the Israeli hostages and protect Israelis from Hamas attacks. Three months later, Hamas is still in power, albeit weakened. They have around 130 Israeli hostages, and they still manage to fire rockets at Israeli cities. – Why have you not been able to deliver on any of the promises to the Israeli people? – Israel has, due to the military pressure, released many of the hostages. We have also managed to kill at least 8,000 Hamas fighters. As for attacks on Israel, they will cease when we eradicate Hamas, says Bennett. RUINS: The photo was taken in Rafah, southern Gaza, and shows the destruction of an apartment block. The picture is from 29 December 2023. Photo: STAFF / Reuters news cannot verify the figure of 8,000 killed Hamas fighters. The Israeli defense force, the IDF, has not presented any documentation on this either. Hamas has at least 30,000 fighters, according to the IDF itself. In other words, there is still a long way to go before Hamas is defeated militarily. What will happen in the Gaza Strip if and when Israel eradicates Hamas is uncertain. We ask the former prime minister what Israel’s plan is in Gaza? – We want a Gaza without Hamas, without terror, without rockets. It will give both Israelis and the population of Gaza a better future, answers Bennett. Prolonged Gaza occupation – You want to remove Hamas from power, but will not let the Palestinian Authority take over. Who will rule Gaza then? Will Israel occupy Gaza again? – No. Israel does not want to rule Gaza. What we envision is a temporary phase, which could last five to seven years. In this phase, a temporary technocratic government consisting of competent people from Gaza and outside will be put in place. They want to rule Gaza politically. – Will Israeli forces be on the ground in Gaza during this period? – Yes, Israeli security forces must be there to ensure that terror does not re-emerge in Gaza. – So you are going to occupy Gaza again? – There will be an Israeli security presence, yes. And we may need more than seven years. We can stay for 30 years. We will not let terror take root in Gaza again, says the former Israeli prime minister.
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– We can stay in Gaza for 30 years – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
