The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, gave a bold address to Congress on Wednesday, vowing to continue the war in Gaza until Hamas is eliminated and Israeli hostages are released.
In response to criticism that the war has been ongoing for an excessively long period and has resulted in an excessive number of civilian casualties, he defended Israel’s actions.
He made a number of claims about the war in Gaza, including that the operation did not result in any civilian deaths; over 40,000 aid trucks were able to reach Gaza; Iran was funding anti-Israel protests in the United States; Israel was not starving the people of Gaza; and Hamas was stealing aid.
Netanyahu pledged to fight until the end in his nearly hour-long speech to Congress. Israeli Prime Minister played down responsibility for the continuing civilian unrest in Gaza.
Netanyahu expressed thanks to Biden for his continued support of Israel.
“I thank President Biden for his heartfelt support for Israel after the savage attack on October 7,” he said. He also expressed his gratitude to Biden for his tireless efforts on behalf of the hostages and the hostage families.
Although he briefly mentioned the return of the hostages, the majority of his speech focused on criticizing his enemies, Iran, the ICC, and demonstrators.
Several congressional Democrats skipped Netanyahu’s speech to protest the war or for other reasons.
During Netanyahu’s address, Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumed Democratic nominee, did not serve as Senate president.
Harris met with Netanyahu on Thursday and pressured him to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal.
The U.N. reports that “crisis or worse levels of food insecurity” affect 96% of Gaza’s population at present. Gaza is on the verge of collapse, according to humanitarian aid workers, due to the conflict and Israeli government restrictions on aid access.
