Netanyahu Defends Deaths of Civilians in ‘Historic’ Gaza War

Claims 'Very Strong' World Support for War's Continuation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today defended the growing civilian toll in his nation’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, particularly those deaths in today’s attacks on Shujaiyeh, while touting the ongoing war as an “historic battle” for Israel’s survival.

Netanyahu insisted that “we asked in every way for the civilian population to leave,” and that Hamas was to blame for every civilian who wasn’t able to flee the onslaught.

Some 50,000 Gazans have already fled their homes, but given the strip’s tiny size and that neither Israel nor Egypt is letting in civilian refugees, there aren’t really places for them to go.

Netanyahu went on to insist that the “international legitimacy” of the invasion was not in question and that Israel enjoys “very strong support” worldwide for continuing the attacks

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.