Benjamin Netanyahu was heckled by chants of “you took my children” today from the relatives of hostages captured by Hamas.
The jeers came from protesters during the PM’s Memorial Day speech, where a man was seen holding an Israeli flag with “7.10” emblazoned on it in red. It was a reference to Mr Netanyahu’s refusal to take responsibility for failures over the October 7 atrocity.
Doris Liber, whose son Guy’s body is held by Hamas, told Mr Netanyahu she does not have a grave to mourn her son. Speaking about the hostages, she tearfully implored him to “bring them home.” A crowd left as the PM began to speak, in a silent protest in Jerusalem.
He said: “We are determined to win in this struggle. We will achieve the goals of victory, first and foremost, bringing
all of our hostages home.” Mr Netanyahu was speaking as it was confirmed more than 360,000 people have fled Rafah ahead of an invasion.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered one of the US’s strongest rebukes to Israel over the Gaza war, saying its tactics have meant “a horrible loss of life of innocent civilians”. He said a Rafah invasion may have initial success but risks terrible harm without making sure Hamas cannot govern Gaza again.
Yesterday it was revealed the Israeli security service Shin Bet has launched “a painful and significant investigation” into its failings before October 7. Chief Ronan Bar said: “We all feel the loss, the feeling we could have prevented it. I feel it perhaps more than anyone.”
Gaza’s health ministry warned it was on the brink, Al Jazeera reported. It said: “A few hours separate us from the collapse of the health system in the Gaza Strip as a result of the failure to bring in the fuel necessary to operate electricity generators in hospitals, ambulances
and transport employees.”
Only a third of Gaza’s 36 hospitals and primary health-care centres are working and all face acute shortages of supplies. More than 1,200 people were killed when Hamas raided Israel in last year’s attack, taking about 250 hostages. Some 128 are unaccounted for with at least 36 presumed dead. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed.