Netanyahu vows that Hamas will be crushed ‘like ISIS’ as Blinken visits

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00:00 to bring in France 24's Shirley Sitbon.

00:02 Shirley, both men used the words "moral clarity."

00:06 What are your thoughts, listening to what we just heard there?

00:10 Well, what we heard and what we didn't hear, because we were really expecting to hear what

00:16 Anthony Blinken had to say, for example, about the operations in Gaza.

00:22 So let's start with what he did say.

00:23 Of course, there was a very strong emotional dimension here, saying he was not here just

00:30 as a Secretary of State of the United States, but as a Jew.

00:32 And he said everything that struck him in these attacks of Hamas against Israel.

00:38 He did.

00:39 He said the word "ISIS," just like Benjamin Netanyahu.

00:42 Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, described scenes that we saw in recent days

00:47 of the massacres committed by Hamas, by these armed men in Israel.

00:52 Well, both men said basically this is like ISIS.

00:56 Hamas is not the way it used to be, does not represent in any way the future, represents

01:02 evil.

01:03 It must be crushed.

01:04 That's Israel's duty to crush that group, to make this never happen again, to ensure

01:09 this type of thing never happens again.

01:12 This is what Anthony Blinken said.

01:14 And when Benjamin Netanyahu said the word saying, "We're happy to have U.S. support

01:19 today, tomorrow, in the future," well, Anthony Blinken said the same.

01:24 "You have our support."

01:25 He said, "You can defend yourself, Israel, but you don't have to be alone.

01:30 We're here to support you."

01:31 And regarding the Palestinians, the only thing regarding the Israeli operation, bombings,

01:37 all the deaths in the Palestinian territories, all of the worries, concerns about human lives

01:42 there, Anthony Blinken said—Netanyahu didn't talk about that, but Anthony Blinken said

01:48 every possible precaution must be taken not to save lives, not to kill civilians of all

01:55 faiths.

01:56 I'm not sure we heard the word "Palestinian" there, but basically, we imagine he talks

02:01 about the fact that the scope of the Israeli response should still take into account civilian

02:08 lives in the Palestinian territory.

02:11 He did say that Palestinians have legitimate concerns and are fighting for their liberty

02:18 and rights, but he says Hamas is the opposite of that.

02:21 It's not thinking of Palestinians' future.

02:24 It's thinking of evil, of destroying Israel and killing Jews.

02:28 When we talk about what could be happening in terms of a ground invasion and hearing

02:33 Netanyahu using this word "crushed," what are we hearing from Israeli officials about

02:38 the extent of this operation?

02:39 When they say "crushed," they mean to annihilate Hamas.

02:42 Exactly.

02:43 Now, the question is, how will this be done?

02:45 And I think in Israel itself, people are really wondering how this will be done, what will

02:49 be the scope of this operation.

02:52 Is it something just to remove Deirut, take their leaders out of there, to take them out?

02:59 Will there be a new occupation after the incursion?

03:02 It's not all that clear, and all that will be determined in days to come.

03:06 That's why this new Israeli government is there with Benny Gantz and more, you know,

03:13 former and current military officials, to find the best solution.

03:18 But of course, the U.N., various countries and many have warned against something that

03:25 will be dramatic and deadly on the Palestinian side.

03:28 And until now, the Arab states around Israel and the Palestinian territories, they've been

03:34 saying—well, they haven't been saying much.

03:37 They've been saying they don't want to have an operation that's too brutal.

03:42 But as days go along, they may be more and more critical of what is happening in the

03:47 Palestinian territories.

03:49 And as the death toll mounts.

03:51 There's certainly a human toll to take into consideration there.

03:54 In terms of hostages, Anthony Blinken did make mention of hostages and being there to

04:00 help secure the release of these hostages, some of whom are American citizens.

04:05 Yes.

04:06 He said that there are Americans.

04:08 He talked about also the deaths, 25 U.S. nationals killed.

04:15 He also said, well, that, yes, the Americans are among those taken hostage, from what I

04:22 understand.

04:23 He said 36 countries, citizens, nationals from 36 countries were either killed or taken

04:29 hostage.

04:30 And that's why so many people around the world feel involved.

04:35 And he also talked about the fact that the U.S. is bringing ammunition.

04:40 It's bringing interceptors for the Iron Dome.

04:44 It's bolstering U.S. aircraft in the region.

04:47 And this is to stop other players from getting involved.

04:51 He says for those who are thinking about joining the fighting, don't.

04:56 Of course, we're thinking about Hezbollah.

04:59 And so this is basically what we've been hearing on that front with this ammunition and the

05:06 Iron Dome, which Israel is really looking for ammunition.

05:10 And we're hearing actually in the Israeli press that they're thinking ahead.

05:14 They need many things, military equipments.

05:17 And also as rockets may be coming in, they need interceptors for their Iron Dome.

05:22 And certainly there are concerns about this escalating and turning into some kind of regional

05:25 conflict.

05:26 And Israel is set to visit some other places in the region.

05:29 That's certainly part of what the big concern is here.

05:32 Yes.

05:33 And many countries are saying that they want to play into that negotiation to help mediate

05:41 a solution.

05:42 That's important for every country, every regional player to have this important role,

05:46 not only to save lives, but also to show they can make the difference and bring solutions.

05:53 We've talked many times about Qatar, which has an influence because it also brings funding

05:58 to Hamas.

05:59 So Hamas listens to Qatar and has listened to it in the past.

06:02 It has influence.

06:03 It also has links with Israel.

06:05 There have been many meetings between Qatari officials and Israeli officials.

06:08 They're important.

06:09 The Egyptians, of course, with this border with Gaza.

06:13 And for now, they're not saying that Gazans can come into the Sinai, but they've asked

06:19 Israel to stop bombing the southern border, because we've heard that has happened in recent

06:27 days.

06:28 We'll see how this developed.

06:29 Of course, there's Turkey, which is also trying to mediate a solution for hostages while calling

06:34 on Israel to stop the bombing of the Gaza Strip.

06:37 So every country both saying we want to help mediate a solution.

06:41 Let's bring this down so it doesn't get too deadly and too tragic.

06:46 But I think the bottom line from this this news conference we just listened to is that

06:50 the U.S. support for Israel is really unequivocal.

06:52 Absolutely.

06:53 He said so so many times, saying even in the U.S. there is wide bipartisan support.

07:01 No question about it.

07:03 The U.S. is there for quite some time.

07:05 You know, right after the attack started on Saturday morning, the Israelis were saying,

07:09 OK, there's some support, but it's it's going to be quick.

07:13 A few days.

07:14 We have to act fast.

07:15 And now it seems that the U.S. is giving more time, bringing more support that was initially

07:19 thought at the beginning, maybe because of everything we've discovered since then, that

07:24 it's such a huge operation from the Hamas.

07:27 At the beginning, we talked about several dozen people, several hundred people.

07:31 And now it seems to be like thousands of people who came in from the Gaza Strip.

07:36 So this is why maybe it has amplified support for the Israelis on the U.S. side.

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