Netanyahu: Israel failed in attempt to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza – Middle East

Israel is doing everything it can to prevent danger to civilians as it battles Hamas in Gaza, including releasing leaflets warning them to flee, but attempts to minimize casualties “have not been successful,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. reported Reuters.

Netanyahu was asked by US broadcaster CBS whether Israel’s killing of thousands of Palestinians while retaliating for the October 7 attack by militants of Gaza’s ruling group Hamas would feed a new generation of hatred.

“Any civilian death is a tragedy. And we shouldn’t have one, because we are doing everything we can to get civilians out of harm’s way, while Hamas is doing everything to keep them in its sights,” Netanyahu said.

“We send leaflets, (we) call them on their cell phones and say, ‘Leave’. And many of them left,” Netanyahu said.

Israel has said the goal of its military campaign is to destroy Hamas.

“The other thing I can say is we’re going to try to end up with minimal civilian casualties. That’s what we’re trying to do: minimal civilian casualties. But unfortunately, we’re falling short.”

Netanyahu then said he wanted to draw a parallel with something related to Germany, but was interrupted by a CBS interviewer who asked him about security in Gaza after the war.

Palestinian civilians have borne the brunt of Israel’s military campaign, now in its second month, in response to the Hamas offensive, which Israel says has killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Health officials in Gaza, considered reliable by the United Nations, say at least 11,500 people have been killed in the Israeli bombardment and ground invasion – more than 4,700 of them children, according to Reuters.