Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has insisted that “no one will stop” Israel in its war against Hamas, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas reaches its 100th day.
Netanyahu spoke after the ICJ held two days of hearings on South Africa’s allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, a charge Israel has rejected.
“No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else,” Netanyahu said in a televised press conference.
“It is possible and necessary to continue until victory and we will do it,” Netanyahu said, adding that most Hamas battalions in Gaza have been “eliminated”.
The case before the international court is expected to go on for years, but a ruling on interim steps could come within weeks. Court rulings are binding, but difficult to enforce.
On Sunday, Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinian militants during operations in the Gaza Strip, the military said.
The fighting, it said, took place in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, as well as areas further north where Israel says it has dismantled much of Hamas’ military capabilities.
In Gaza, the ministry for health said on Saturday that 135 Palestinians had been killed in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall toll of the war to 23,843.
The count does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, but the ministry has said about two-thirds of the dead are women and children. The ministry said the total number of war-wounded surpassed 60,000.
Israel has been under growing international pressure to end the war, which has led to widespread suffering in the besieged enclave.
The war was triggered by an attack on October 7th in which Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians.
About 250 more were taken hostage, and while some have been released or confirmed dead, more than half are believed to still be in captivity.
Israel argues that ending the war means victory for Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, meanwhile warned that the clock is “ticking fast towards famine” in the Gaza Strip, to where Israel has blocked water supplies and the delivery of most food, fuel and medical aid amid its assault.
More than 85 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced as a result of Israel’s air and ground offensive, and vast swathes of the territory have been levelled. Only 15 of the territory’s 36 hospitals are still partially functional, according to the UN.
Fears of a wider conflict have been palpable since the start of the war. New fronts quickly opened, with Iranian-backed groups – Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hizbullah in Lebanon and Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria – carrying out a range of attacks.
From the start, the US increased its military presence in the region to deter an escalation.
Following a Houthi campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, the US and UK launched multiple air strikes against the rebels on Friday, and the US hit another site on Saturday. – Wires