PARIS, November 9. /TASS/. Israel is waging war not only against Hamas, but also against the Palestinian people as a whole, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said at a Gaza aid conference in Paris.
"None of us support the killing of civilians on one side or the other. But what Israel is doing now is not a war against Hamas, but a war against the entire Palestinian people. Israel's defense minister says he is fighting 'human-like animals,' while the [Israeli] prime minister calls to remember the fate of the Amalekites (an ancient Semitic tribe that, according to the Bible, was completely wiped out by Israelis - TASS), who were killed without sparing women or children - this is what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling his soldiers to do," Shtayyeh said.
"In the West Bank, at least 350 people have been killed this year, and 147 have been killed since October 7. Moreover, an Israeli minister has ordered weapons to be handed out to settlers. What is that if not giving license to kill Palestinians?" the official went on to say. "What we really need now is an end to the war, because that is what is needed to bring humanitarian aid to those who need it."
The prime minister said that aid should not be delivered selectively, but wherever it is needed.
"Humanitarian aid must be delivered throughout the Gaza Strip, not just to its southern areas. Otherwise it looks like a direct call for residents to move from the north to the south. We categorically reject establishing any new refugee camps in southern Gaza, as this would mean the complete devastation of the northern areas," Shtayyeh stated.
The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7. Hamas regards the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and has started delivering strikes on that area and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank. Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari on October 27 said the ground operation in the Gaza Strip was expanding.