Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that among the 31,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, 13,000 were members of Hamas. At that time he called Hamas members as terrorists. Netanyahu said this in an interview given to Politico. This information is known from the report of the news agency Reuters.
The Israeli prime minister’s claim came as health ministry figures in Hamas-controlled Gaza said more than 72 percent of those killed in Israeli strikes were children and women. Hamas rejected the Israeli prime minister’s claim citing these figures and termed the Israeli forces’ victory as “fake”.
Netanyahu said, “We are very close to victory…once we start military operations against the remaining (Hamas) terrorist battalions in Rafah, it is only a matter of weeks.” At the time, he said, 13,000 Hamas fighters were among the dead in the Israeli assault on Gaza.
The Ministry of Health of Gaza said that since October 7, the number of dead in the Israeli attack on Gaza has increased to 31 thousand 100 people. More than 72 thousand 600 people were injured during this time. Earlier, a Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 killed 1,139 people and the group took 253 hostages.
Meanwhile, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia called on the international community to stop the “brutal crimes” that Israel is committing in the Palestinian territory of Gaza and to “provide a safe humanitarian corridor”.
Before the King of Saudi Arabia, US President Joe Biden said that Netanyahu is doing more harm than good to Israel. He said that the United States will stand by Israel in applying pressure on the Palestinian independence organization Hamas. However, he also said, ‘Netanyahu should keep in mind that innocent people are also dying while conducting operations against Hamas.