Netanyahu safe

Action is criticized because “we are Jews”

Netanyahu does not agree with the criticism of his actions.(Bild: AFP/Menahem Kahana)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected international criticism of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and insisted on his country's right to self-defense. He identified a "volcano of anti-Semitism" erupting worldwide.

The criticism was not due to Israel's actions, "but because we exist, (...) because we are Jews", Netanyahu argued on Sunday at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Yad Vashem memorial. 

"No amount of pressure, no decision by an international forum will stop Israel from defending itself," Netanyahu continued. "We will defeat our genocidal enemies. Never again is now!" Should Israel be forced "to stand alone, Israel will stand alone", emphasized the head of a right-wing religious government cabinet.

"Because we are Jews"
Referring to the persecution and extermination of Jews during the Second World War by the "German Reich", the Israeli head of government said: "During the terrible Holocaust, there were important leaders who stood on the sidelines. The first lesson from the Holocaust is therefore: if we do not defend ourselves, no one else will defend us." The 74-year-old added: "Today we are once again facing enemies who are out to destroy us." Protests against Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip, such as the protests at universities in the USA and elsewhere, exist "because we are Jews".

Large parts of the Gaza Strip are in ruins.(Bild: AFP/Adel AL SALMAN)

The Israeli government is facing international criticism for its actions in the Gaza Strip. Israel's harsh warfare has recently caused a certain degree of alienation even among its closest ally, the USA. US President Joe Biden regularly calls for more aid deliveries for the suffering population in the Gaza Strip. He urgently warns the Israeli head of government not to send the military into the southern city of Rafah before hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people crowded together there have been brought to safety.

Tens of thousands dead in the Gaza Strip
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented attack by the radical Islamic group Hamas on Israel on October 7, in which, according to Israeli figures, around 1170 people were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. Israel has taken massive military action in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack.

According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 34,600 people have been killed. Israel disputes these figures.

Israel closes important border crossing
On Sunday, Israel's army closed what is currently the most important border crossing for aid supplies into the Gaza Strip after rockets were fired from the Palestinian territory. Ten rockets were fired from an area near the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip towards the Kerem Shalom crossing, the army said.

Three Israeli soldiers were killed and numerous others were injured. Meanwhile, Hamas claimed that nine Palestinians were killed in an Israeli army attack on a house in Rafah at the weekend.

Rafah is being evacuated
According to a media report, Israel's armed forces have begun evacuating Palestinian civilians from Rafah ahead of a threatened attack on the border town in the south of the Gaza Strip. The evacuations were concentrated on the outskirts of Rafah, from where the people were to be taken to tent cities in the nearby towns of Khan Younis and Al Muwassi, Israeli army radio reported on Monday. The military did not initially confirm this.