Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu: 'We Will Not Stop Until Hamas Tunnels Are Destroyed'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he and his defense forces will not agree to a cease-fire that prevents his country from continuing to destroy underground tunnels built by the Hamas group that often run from Palestine to Israel.
Netanyahu said in a statement Thursday that completing the task of destroying the tunnels is integral to maintaining national security.
"We are determined to complete this mission, with or without a ceasefire," the president said during a full-cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv on Thursday. "I won't agree to any proposal that will not enable the Israeli military to finish this important task, for the sake of Israel's security."
Israel has been receiving mounting pressure from the United Nations and other international agencies regarding the growing death toll of Palestinian civilians as fighting between the Hamas and Israeli Defense Forces reaches its fourth week. The toll for Palestinian casualties is now over 1,000 while Israeli deaths include 56 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.
Although some cease-fire proposals have been brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Egypt and Arab League officials, Israel refuses to agree to any proposal that would prevent it from continuing to search for and destroy Hamas-made tunnels.
The tunnels were reportedly built by the Islamic group underground, spanning from Palestine to Israel and allowing Hamas fighters to enter Israel undetected by border patrol.
Although Israel has received criticism from the United Nations regarding its ongoing missile attacks on Palestine, Secretary of State John Kerry stood behind Israel's dedication to destroying the Hamas-built tunnels. "No country can sit there and live with tunnels being dug under its border, out of which jump people who are carrying handcuffs and tranquilizer drugs in order to kidnap their citizens and hold them for ransom," Kerry told India's NDTV in a recent interview.
