Israel-Hamas conflict: Israeli govt. each day substitute on inspire to Gaza, hostages and additional | LiveNOW from FOX

Hello good afternoon everyone I'm Israeli government spokesman Alon Levy it is day 136 of the October 7th War IDF fatalities since the start of the October 7 Massacre have risen to 574 that's up by four since our last update the people of Israel grieve with the families of Staff Sergeant rotm.

Sahar hadada 20 staff sergeant Noam habba 21 Sergeant First Class reserves Ori yaish 2 7 staff sergeant Simon schlomo 20 and we salute them for their heroism and ultimate sacrifice an update on the October 7 hostage crisis Hamas continues to hold 134 hostages in captivity including 1030 from the October 7 Massacre of those hostages 32.

Are known to be dead with Hamas holding on to their bodies that is nearly one quarter of the hostages have either been murdered in captivity or were murdered at the time of their abduction that number was revised after kibuts o announced at the end of last week that akov abducted from his home on the kibuts on October 7th was in fact killed.

He is survived by his partner merav and teenage Sons o and yagil who were also abducted on October 7th and were mercifully released during the last hostage release pause in November Israel will continue to do everything to release the hostages still trapped in in the Hamas Terror dungeons to date 112 112 live hostages have been three.

Freed through a combination of strong military pressure and tough negotiations and the Prime Minister has underscored that that is the formula for liberating all the others alongside the determined military effort therefore Israel remains in continuous contact with the mediating countries to advance a framework for the release of all 134.

Hostages prime minister Netanyahu has called for the exertion of pressure not only on Hamas but also on qat in view of its ability to pressure Hamas as the host country of hamas's International Leadership and in light of hamas's financial dependence on qat Doha can press Hamas as no one else can and we call on the International Community to.

Press Q to press Hamas so that we can bring back all of the hostages home now an update on the idf's activities against the Hamas Terror infrastructure in the NASA Hospital in can Yunis over the past week the IDF has been conducting a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in the NASA Hospital in can Yunis it's done so on.

The basis of concrete intelligence about Hamas terrorists operating from inside and around the hospital of course in flagrant violation of international law Hamas We Believe has been using that hospital to hold hostages and potentially their bodies and also previously as a base for Rocket attacks before the start of this precise.

Operation given the sensitivity the IDF took three actions in pursuance with its obligations under international law and importance to stress going well beyond those legal obligations one on February 13th the IDF conveyed a formal demand to the Hamas Health Ministry in Gaza that Hamas cease military activity in the hospital immediately and that its.

Military operatives leave the hospital it warned that if that demand were ignored it would reserve the right to act against these violations in accordance with international law two the idea facilitated evacuations of civilians seeking shelter from the hospital securing humanitarian corridors out of the hospital it made clear there.

Is no order for patients or staff to evacuate the hospital on the contrary but uninvolved civilians should evacuate this Hamas stronghold for their own safety so Hamas cannot use them as human Shields and three critically the IDF ensured that the NASA Hospital remain operational throughout the mission and therefore coordinated the transfer of.

Medical equipment and supplies including oxygen tanks and fuel for electricity at the request of the hospital throughout all this the IDF and Israel's leadership have been clear we seek no harm to innocent civilians we seek only to bring our hostages and bring them home we seek to hunt down Hamas terrorists wherever they may be hiding during the operation.

The IDF arrested hundreds of suspected terrorists including some posing as medical staff and over 20 individuals who participated in the October 7 Massacre we have already released some of their names and identities following interrogations we can confirm that hostages were indeed held at the NASA hospital and we have information that.

Bodies of murdered hostages were held there too troops scouring the hospital found large quantities of Hamas weapons inside including mortar shells grenades and AK4 47s as well as a vehicle used in the October 7 Massacre itself shockingly troops also found boxes of medicine designated for Israeli hostages still sealed together with knowledge that.

Neither of the hostages freed in last week's Rescue Mission received the medications earmarked for them we have of course strong grounds to suspect that Hamas never delivered any of those medicines to the hostages throughout the targeted operation against Hamas in the NASA Hospital IDF troops were instructed to ensure.

The Continuous functioning of the hospital and we facilitated continue to facilitate the pro provision of humanitarian Aid to patients that humanitarian Aid includes a tanker of 24,500 L of diesel fuel hundreds of water bottles hundreds of battle rations hundreds of loaves of bread 100 units of baby food and medicines donated by the.

World Health Organization despite its continued cover up of hamas's abuse of the hospital on Friday Friday Israeli troops work to repair the hospital's generator following a malfunction while shayetet 13 Special Forces brought a replacement generator to the hospital while also supplying food for infants and water to the hospitals in addition.

To those 24,500 lers of diesel fuel to maintain Hospital activity this comes in the context of course of hamas's long-standing and documented strategy of exploiting hospitals for military purposes as we've seen across the Gaza Strip and those tunnels under the shifa hospital of course only the most egregious example.

Our intelligence indicates over 85% of major medical facilities in Gaza have been abused by Hamas for Terror operations unfortunately Hamas is committing these abuses knowing that the Red Cross and World Health Organization will turn a blind eye given the shameful lack of donor State demands for accountability negligence that has.

Risked and potentially cost lives we hear from International a gencies that hospitals must be protected of course so an important reminder on what international law actually says international law is clear that under no circumstances May hospitals be used to Shield military operations none Hamas knows this and therefore it does the.

Opposite Article 19 of the Fourth Geneva Convention makes clear civilian hospitals May however lose their protections when they are used to commit acts harmful to the enemy the wording of the Geneva conventions that is military activities now that protection May cease after due warning has been given stipulating a reasonable time limit and.

After such warning has remained unheeded that is the relevant international law tragically the World Health Organization continues to cover up hamas's militarization of hospitals and to deliberately turn a blind eye as Hamas wages War out of hospitals and jeopardizes their Geneva protections the world must condemn Hamas for its.

Internationally unlawful military exploitation of protected facilities which has deliberately endangered civilians international law does not Grant immunity to terrorists simply because they choose to hide in the basement of a hospital and Israel rejects all attempts to weaponize international law to attempt to give.

Legal cover to terrorists terrorists around the world are no doubt taking notes to see whether the International Community will give Hamas a free pass for its systematic violations of hospitals Geneva protections if Hamas gets away with it the world will give direct encouragement to terrorists to replicate this strategy in other War.

Zones posing a clear and present threat not only to patients in those protected facilities but also to international law and security Now an important update on onra just before the weekend defense minister yoav Gallant revealed the identities and pictures of 12 onra workers who actively participated in the October 7 Massacre that intelligence has.

Of course been shared with allies anyone who has not seen those ID identities and names please speak to us and we will make sure that you get that in addition we have significant indications that over 30 H workers participated in the massacre facilitated the taking of hostages and committed Looting of Israeli communities out of 13,000 H.

Workers in Gaza 12% that's 1,468 are active in Hamas and Islamic Jihad that includes 185 honoral workers active in the military wing of Hamas and 51 active in the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad that is of course the tip of the iceberg given what independent Watchdogs have revealed about the celebration of the massacre in.

Uno teacher groups and of course the systematic indoctrination of Palestinian children as foreign donor states are of course aware Hamas continues to use H facilities to store weapons base tunnel shafts hide its Fighters and launch missiles onra is a Hamas front and its International leadership continues to cover up hamas's infiltration of the.

Agency it continues to blame Israel to cover up its own incompetence and complicity with hamas's theft of Aid just last week we released photos of the cargo from 500 trucks full of Aid ping piling up on the gazen side of Karam Shalom that's three days full of humanitarian Aid waiting for the UN to collect it and that should put to rest.

The frankly ridiculous allegations that Israel is not admitting enough Aid into Gaza when there is still excess capacity at the Israeli Crossings and more than the UN is able to pick up on the other side the defense minister has therefore instructed the defense establishment to begin transferring Aid delivery responsibilities to other agencies and.

Organizations which are not in cahoots with terrorists and we urge the International Community to work with us to make sure that civilians who receive Aid the civilians who need it and make sure that terrorists cannot steal it finally an update from the northern front uh in the north hisbah continues its aggression against Israeli.

Communities we saw of course the massive barrage of rockets at the end of last week which killed one female Soldier the IDF continues to increase Readiness in the northern arena with Brigade level exercises and preparation for combat in winter weather conditions we repeat our warning hez Bala must back off or we will have to push it away we cannot nor.

Will we accept the ongoing displacement of around 100, Israelis for over four months now and the continued shelling of their homes the Prime Minister has been clear this government is committed to returning citizens safely to their homes that is the foremost obligation of the state and this will be achieved diplomatically or militarily and of.

Course we strongly prefer the Diplomatic option based on un Security Council resolution 1701 that's it for today's update we will of course take your questions thank you first question from Leo Soka The Washington Post how does Israel know hostages were held in NASA Hospital uh leor I would refer you to the video.

Released by the IDF last week of the questioning of one of the terror suspects who was uh released uh one of the suspects who was apprehended uh during that targeted and precise operation in the NASA Hospital in which he spoke of around 10 hostages to his knowledge being held in the hospital uh we have of course also been questioning.

The the survivors of Hamas captivity and that questioning has also yielded valuable information about the conditions in which hostages were held uh I can refer you if you would like uh contact me later to the specific video footage and to other remarks uh by IDF spokesperson rear Admiral Daniel hagari who has addressed this issue.

Specifically question from Jody Co in world is one news India do you expect Ramadan to be peaceful to be a peaceful one in RAF and in Jerusalem this year we certainly very much hope that Ramadan will be peaceful and we urge on all parties of course not to uh take advantage of what should be a religious Festival a time for families to be.

Together and use that to inflame uh religious tensions as unfortunately we have seen uh in the past uh we remain committed to the policy of destroying Hamas in the Gaza Strip bringing back the hostages and the uh police uh will of course be preparing in order to ensure uh Public Safety and Security around the.

Country question from Andrew Andre shirokov from the Tas news agency Brazilian president was declared Persona nrata today by the Israeli MFA is it an unprecedented move for Israel to declare a president of a foreign country a Persona nrata and can you please comment on the meaning of this move.

Uh that's a very good question I'm not aware of specific precedent I would refer your question to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs uh which will be better informed uh than I am at present of course there is nothing more disgraceful than the desecration of the memory of the 6 million Jews murdered in the hostages in an attempt to Shield the.

Perpetrators of an actual Act of genocide the Hamas death squads that burned whole families alive incinerated them and reduced them to human ash on October 7th we will not tolerate any world leaders trying to give Hamas political or legal cover and we certainly will not tolerate any world leaders attempting to Shield the.

Genocidal Hamas war criminals by desecrating the memory of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust question from Joel Pollock uh Breitbart News can you please comment on the Russian invitation to Palestinian groups including Hamas to meet in Moscow later this month also when Benny Gant said recently that if the hostages were.

Not released by Ramadan I.E the March 10th then Israel would enter Rafa was that an official deadline from the Israel government um your first question regarding Hamas uh the Prime Minister has been clear especially since the beginning of this war no country should have diplomatic relations with Hamas.

Just as no country would have diplomatic relations with Isis Hamas is a genocidal Terror organization that we expect to be comprehensively shunned and sanctioned by the International Community that is what we expect as for the question uh regarding uh as for the question regarding Rafa um we're approaching a military operation in Rafa because over.

The course of this war that Hamas started it began with 24 battalions 18 of those battalions have been shattered in the north the last two the canun Brigade has already been dismantled as the defense minister said just the other day and that leaves four Hamas battalions still standing inside uh Rafa remaining quarter of.

Hamas's Army and we are determined to continue dismantling that Terror Army so that it can never perpetrate atrocities like it did on October 7th or threaten the people of Israel as it has over previous 20 years of Rocket fire I'll refer you to what the Prime Minister said in his uh telephone conversation with our friend and Ally uh President.

Biden as the Prime Minister said on uh February uh 17th just two days ago um he reaffirmed that Israel is going to continue fighting until we achieve total victory that includes action in Rafa of course after we allow civilians found in the combat zones to evacuate to Safe areas uh we will continue dismantling the Hamas military machine in doing so.

We will continue doing everything uh possible under international law to minimize harm to civilians that includes the obligation of precaution and we have given a lot of warning for civilians to be able to evacuate we do not want Hamas to be able to use them as human Shields it's regrettable that instead of being housed in the humanitarian Zone that we.

Designated at the beginning of the war in al- masasi these civilians were funneled into Hamas strongholds instead and we think the International Community has a very firm obligation to condemn hamas's human shield strategy and not cooperate with it uh because uh if it continues to insist that it is impossible to evacuate.

Civilians from areas where terrorists are trying to use them as human Shields and then to blame Israel when civilians are hurt despite our unprecedented measures to try to get them out of Harm's Way that sends a message to terrorists not only to Hamas but other extremist groups around the world that using human Shields works that it's a.

Strategy that works because the International Community will effectively give terrorists immunity for their military assets if they pile enough civilians around them so we want to see civilians get out of Harm's Way so that we can continue destroying hamas's uh military infrastructure and will of course proceed in accordance with our.

Operational needs question from Hannah Julian uh the Jewish press will the government restrict the number of Israel Arab Muslims who can pray at the alaxa mosque on the Temple mount in the upcoming holiday of Ramadan and if so why no immediate statement on the question of the alaka mosque in uh.

Ramadan understanding that decisions have not yet been uh made we are waiting for an opinion of the Israel police and of course decisions will be made uh in accordance with interests of Public Safety and Security question from Jim Williams uh Zenger international news service Washington DC this week the US is.

Expected to block a United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire by Israel there is increasing pressure on the US and many other of Israel's allies to stop stop the war and get a hostage deal done how long does the Prime Minister feel he can hold off the mounting pressure to strike a hostage.

Deal well of course there's pressure to try to get an immediate ceasefire that would abandon the hostages in Gaza and leave Hamas in power even before Israel began the response to the October 7 Massacre there were those who have been running interference for Hamas and trying to save it from the consequences of the October 7 Massacre I think it is.

Striking and noteworthy that over 4 months after the massacre Israel still maintains the support of its key allies to continue the job of finishing Hamas and bringing back the hostages not only the United States which has stood Four Square behind us with very strong moral military and diplomatic leadership since the start of the war it's still the.

Position of the British government that a permanent ceasefire is Possible only after Hamas will have lay down its arms and brought back the hostages and I note also the statement by the prime ministers of Australia Canada and New Zealand from the other day that also said they want to see an end to the fighting but that cannot be unilateral.

The hostages must be released and Hamas must lay down its arms I think there is widespread understanding within the Democratic World I'll refer you also to the statement from the European Parliament just a month ago saying uh calling for a permanent ceasefire uh conditional on hostages being released and Hamas laying down its arms.

Firm recognition Across the Western and Democratic world that the October 7 Massacre uh must be followed by The Return of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas and the response to the deadliest terror attack in world history after 911 and that armed Invasion by Hamas by air Land and Sea cannot be to leave that Terror.

Organization standing and the fact that we still have that support from Key allies still standing behind Israel's declared uh War goals is of course of critical importance uh on the question of hostages specifically the government remains committed to bringing back back all of the uh hostages um unfortunately time has already run out for the 32 who.

Have been killed in captivity or at the moment of their abduction uh the Prime Minister has been clear hamas's recent response making delusional demands it is on the brink of total defeat and it is demanding an Israeli capitulation that is not going to happen the previous 112 live hostages released from the GAA strip got out as a result of strong.

Israeli military pressure and forceful action in order to rescue them and tough negotiations that is what we are going to continue doing that is the policy the government so that we can bring them all home and of course I'll take the opportunity to restate the prime minister's demand from just the other day calling on the International.

Community to put more pressure on Q to pressure Hamas in view of the leverage that it has on that Terror organization as the state that hosts its International presence and of course on which Hamas is so financially dependent thank you that was the last question everyone have a good day and keep safe thank.

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