Netanyahu lashes out at 'global campaign of lies' as widespread criticism over Gaza mounts

Netanyahu defends Israeli design to occupy o'er Gaza metropolis after international condemnation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sought to defend a new military offensive in one of Gaza's most populous areas amid growing condemnation at home and abroad, declaring that Israel "has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas."

He spoke to foreign media minutes before an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Gaza.

Notably, Netanyahu said he has directed Israel's military in recent days to "bring in more foreign journalists," which would be a striking development, as they haven't been allowed into Gaza beyond military embeds during 22 months of war.

"Our goal is not to occupy Gaza; our goal is to free Gaza," he asserted.

He also pushed back against what he called a "global campaign of lies" — and said Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, one of Israel's strongest backers, had "buckled under" by announcing that his government won't authorize exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza until further notice.

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Merz, for his part, told public broadcaster ARD that Germany and Israel were talking "very critically" but that Berlin's overall policies of friendship haven't changed.

On Saturday, the foreign ministers of Germany, Canada, Austria, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom condemned Netanyahu's plan to take over Gaza. 

"It will aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages and further risk the mass displacement of civilians," they said in a joint statement, noting attempts at annexation and settlement extension violate international law.

Netanyahu said there is a "fairly short timetable" in mind for next steps in Gaza, but he didn't give specifics.

The goals, he said, include demilitarizing the territory, the Israeli military having "overriding security control" in Gaza and putting a non-Israeli civilian administration in charge.

Netanyahu again blamed many of Gaza's problems on the Hamas militant group, including civilian deaths, destruction and shortages of aid.

"Hamas still has thousands of armed terrorists in Gaza," he said, adding that Palestinians are "begging" the world to be freed from them.

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The Israeli prime minister, who has asserted that there is "no starvation in Gaza," did acknowledge hunger there, saying that "there was a problem with deprivation, no question about it."

Israel wants to increase the number of aid distribution sites, he said, without giving details.

At the UN, the United States defended Israel, saying it has the right to decide what's best for its security. It called allegations of genocide in Gaza false.

The U.S. Has veto power at the Security Council and can block proposed actions there.

Other Security Council members and UN officials expressed alarm. China called the "collective punishment" of people in Gaza unacceptable. Russia warned against a "reckless intensification of hostilities."

"This is no longer a looming hunger crisis; this is starvation," said Ramesh Rajasingham with the UN humanitarian office. "Humanitarian conditions are beyond horrific. We have frankly run out of words to describe it."

At least 31 Palestinians were killed on Sunday while seeking aid in Gaza, hospitals and witnesses said.

The Associated Press spoke to witnesses of gunfire in the Israeli-controlled Morag and Netzarim corridors and the Teina area in the south. All accused Israeli forces of firing at crowds as people tried to reach food distribution sites or waited for convoys.

The dead included 15 killed while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor that separates the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital.

The situation is a "death trap," Jamal al-Laweh said, adding that Israeli forces opened fire there. "But I have no other choice to feed the kids."

A further six were killed while waiting for aid in northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing, according to Gaza's Health Ministry and Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

In central Gaza, witnesses said they heard warning shots before fire was aimed toward crowds trying to reach a distribution site operated by the Israeli-backed and U.S.-funded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The AP could not independently confirm who fired. Al-Awda Hospital said four people were killed by Israeli gunfire.

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Six other aid-seekers were killed while trying to reach GHF sites in Khan Younis and Rafah, Nasser Hospital said.

The GHF sites opened in May as an alternative to the UN-run aid system, but operations have been marred by deaths and chaos.

Responding to AP inquiries, the GHF media office said: "There were no incidents at or near our sites today and these incidents appear to be linked to crowds trying to loot aid convoy." Israel's military said there were no incidents involving troops near central Gaza aid sites.

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Seven people were killed in airstrikes, local hospitals said — three near the fishermen's port in Gaza City and four, two of them children, in a tent in Khan Younis. Israel's military did not immediately comment.

Israel's air and ground offensive has displaced most of Gaza's population and pushed the territory toward famine. Two more Palestinian children died of malnutrition-related causes on Saturday, bringing the toll among children to 100 since the war began.

At least 117 adults have died of malnutrition-related causes since late June, when the Health Ministry began to count that age category, it said.

The hunger toll is in addition to the ministry's count of 61,400 Palestinians who have been killed in the war. It says the majority of the dead have been women and children.

Bereaved families and relatives of hostages still held in Gaza urged Israeli companies to declare a general strike next week. Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night in what local media called one of the largest anti-government protests in recent months.

The families and their supporters fear that expanding the war will endanger their loved ones. Of the hostages taken in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza, 50 remain in the territory, with 20 of those believed to be alive.

Lishay Miran-Lavi, whose husband, Omri, is among the hostages, appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump and special envoy Steve Witkoff to halt the fighting.

"The decision to send the army deeper into Gaza is a danger to my husband, Omri. But we can still stop this disaster," she said.

Also Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz toured the northern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where about 40,000 Palestinians have been driven from their homes this year in the West Bank's largest displacement since Israel captured the territory in 1967.

Israel says the operations are needed to stamp out militancy, as violence by all sides has surged since the war in Gaza began. Katz said the military would remain in the area's refugee camps at least until the end of the year, and said the number of warnings about attacks against Israelis in the West Bank had decreased by 80 per cent since the operation began in January.

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