In defiance of UNSC resolution, Israel vows to pursue its ‘just’ war objectives

Tel Aviv/Washington: Israel today said it will pursue its “just” war objectives: Destroying Hamas’s military and governmental capacities, releasing all the hostages, and ensuring Gaza will not pose a threat to the people of Israel in the future.

Media reports indicated airstrikes overnight into Tuesday, March 26, 2024, near the southernmost city of Rafah where some 1.5 million people now shelter, many after being uprooted from their homes elsewhere in the enclave. Intense hostilities in Gaza continued today between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces with a “double-digit number of children killed overnight”. Speaking from Rafah,  UN Children’s Fund spokesperson James Elder told UN News that 13,750 children have now been killed according to Gaza’s health authorities, amid Israeli airstrikes and bombardment launched in response to Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

“Hamas rebuffed all US offers for a compromise while celebrating the Security Council’s resolution,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office claimed, asserting that Israel will not address Hamas’s “delusional” demands.

Israeli claimed Hamas’s stance “clearly demonstrates its utter disinterest in a negotiated deal and attests to the damage done by the UN Security Council’s resolution”.

Also read: Will Israel defy UNSC and launch a ground operation in Rafah?

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Hamas “once again rejected an American compromise proposal and has repeated its demands: An immediate halt to the war, the complete withdrawal of the Israeli Defence Forces from the Gaza Strip and leaving in place its administration so that it can repeat, time and again, the massacre of October 7, as it has promised to do”.

In Washington White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked if there were any assurances yet from Israel about the protection of civilians in Rafah, could only refer to the “good and productive” meeting between US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and the visiting Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.  “…they discussed the best way to ensure Hamas’s lasting defeat in Gaza,” she said. 

Significantly Jake also conveyed President Biden’s “ironclad” support for Israel’s security and defence against all threats, including Iran. They also discussed the need for Israel to do more to sustain and expand humanitarian assistance going into the war-hit Gaza.

When asked if there was any additional fallout from the UNSC yesterday, Karine said, “We’ve been very clear where we stand here.  Our position remains the same.  It has not changed. So, we remain committed to supporting Israel in its fight against Hamas, which has said it wants to repeat October 7th again and again until Israel is annihilated, because we cannot expect Israel to accept a situation in which their citizens continue to live under active threat”. She, however, was quick to add that at the same time, Israel needed to do whatever possible to prevent civilian casualties and to conduct operations as strategically and precisely as possible in target operations to protect civilians, including Rafah.

It may be noted that the meeting that  Jake had with Gallant was an extra day added on because, according to Karine, “they believed it was important to continue the conversation”.

– global bihari bureau