Prime Minister's Office: Hamas Spreading Unverified Numbers and Staged Images
Prime Minister Netanyahu's office promised to continue to ensure large amounts of aid enter into the Gaza Strip, "as we always have."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released a statement tonight (Monday), explaining Israel's stance towards humanitarian aid to Gaza, Hamas manipulation of statistics and images to claim that there is a crisis, and the ultimate goals of the government:
Israel will continue to work with international agencies as well as the U.S. and European nations to ensure that large amounts of humanitarian aid flows into the Gaza Strip.
"As part of this effort, Israel paused IDF operations in key populated areas of Gaza from 10am to 8 pm every day and designated secure routes from 6am am to 11pm that will ensure the safe passage of more convoys delivering aid.
"We already allow significant amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza every single day, including food, water and medicine.
"Unfortunately, Hamas, which openly uses civilians as human shields, operates from hospitals and uses schools and kindergartens to store weapons, has been stealing aid from the Gaza population many times by shooting Palestinians.
"While the situation in Gaza is difficult and Israel has been working to ensure aid delivery, Hamas benefits from attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis. As such, they have been releasing unverified numbers to the news media while circulating images that are carefully staged or manipulated by Hamas.
"We are fighting a just war, a moral war, a war for our survival. No country in the world would allow the continued rule in neighboring territory of a terror group bent on its destruction that already stormed across its borders in a genocidal attack, as Hamas did on Oct 7 when it butchered over 1,200 innocent people, burning babies alive and slaughtering teenagers at a music festival. Hamas boasts they will repeat the Oct 7 massacre over and over.
"We’ll continue to act responsibly, as we always have, and we’ll continue to seek the return of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas. That is the only way to secure peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike."