Israel vows to fight on as the U.S. calls for restraint
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel vowed to “fight to the end” in Gaza as anguish continued to spread over the killings of three hostages last week. The hostages were accidentally shot by the Israeli military as they were waving a white flag, and their deaths have raised new questions about how Netanyahu’s government is prosecuting the war.
Netanyahu began a government meeting yesterday by reading from a letter that he said came from families of Israeli soldiers killed fighting in Gaza. “You have a mandate to fight; you do not have a mandate to stop in the middle,” Netanyahu read, according to a statement from his office.
The letter appears at odds with the message coming from relatives of hostages still held in Gaza, many of whom have taken to the streets to demand a cease-fire so that their loved ones can return home.
U.S. efforts: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is traveling in the Middle East this week, visiting Israel and three Persian Gulf nations, as Biden administration officials push Israel to end its large-scale ground and air campaign within weeks and transition to a more focused phase.
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