'Israel must finish the job': Netanyahu vows to continue fighting as Israel stands accused of committing 'war crimes'

Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has doubled down on his country's commitment to continue fighting the ongoing Gaza war until its demands are met by Hamas.

He made his remarks during a speech in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Sep. 26, where his entry into the hall was met by a mix of mass walkouts, cheers and jeers by other nations' delegates.

Finishing the job

In the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack, when terrorist group Hamas launched an offensive on Israel that marked the start of the conflict, Netanyahu said "Israel must finish the job”.

"On Oct. 7, Hamas carried out the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. They slaughtered 1,200 innocent people, including over 40 Americans and foreign nationals from dozens of countries represented here."

He then addressed Hamas leaders directly via the livestream: "Lay down your arms, let my people go."

Netanyahu also declared that the end of the war can be achieved "if Hamas agrees to our demands", though with conditions.

"Gaza would be demilitarised, Israel would retain overriding security control, and a peaceful civilian authority would be established by Gazans and others committed to peace with Israel," he said.

"Our enemies are your enemies"

Addressing the assembly, the Israeli leader also asserted that the elimination of "radical Islamist" elements would benefit the rest of the world.

"Our enemies are your enemies," he said, adding, "Israel is fighting your fight."

He also claimed that countries that have condemned Israel's actions have "privately thanked [them]" behind close doors for their prevention of terrorism in the global world order.

"Yet, over time, many world leaders buckled. They buckled under the pressure of a biased media, radical Islamist constituencies and anti-Semitic mobs," Netanyahu added.

"It's an indictment of weak, deep leaders who appease evil rather than support a nation whose brave soldiers guard you from the barbarians at the gate," he continued to blast the aforementioned nations.

Referencing the 150-odd nations that have backed a two-state solution by recognising a Palestinian state, he said they were sending "a very clear message: murdering Jews pays off."

He said: "This is sheer madness. It's insane, and we won't do it."

Netanyahu further criticised the "two-state solution" as problematic and impractical as Palestinians "want a Palestinian state instead of Israel".

"It's not the absence of a Palestinian state, it's the presence and existence of a Jewish state" that has driven the conflict, he claimed.

Palestinian president spoke via livestream

Netanyahu's comments came a day after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN via livestream.

His visa to enter the U.S was refused by American authorities.

Abbas called out "the extremist Israeli government" for their actions, which he labelled "war crimes".

"What Israel is carrying out is not merely an aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity that is both documented and monitored, and it will be recorded in history books and the pages of international conscience as one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries."

At least 65,419 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, with 167,160 wounded and thousands more buried under rubble, according to Al Jazeera.

A decisive UN inquiry report released on Sep. 16 has also found that Israel is committing genocide.

In his speech, Abbas also made a clear separation between Hamas and the Palestinian government, stating that the terrorist group's actions do "not represent the Palestinian people, nor do they represent their just struggle for freedom and independence".

"Hamas will not have a role to play in governance," he declared.

Addressing Israel's settlement expansion plans in the West Bank, which would make the implementation of a Palestinian state impossible, Abbas also called it "a blatant violation of international law and relevant Security Council resolutions".

He laid out the Palestinian government's terms for the end of the war, including the release of all captives and prisoners from Israel and Hamas, and a guarantee that Gaza residents would not be displaced.

"No matter how much our wounds bleed and no matter how long this suffering lasts, it will not break our will to live and survive," he concluded.

Top images via United Nations/Youtube