Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is doing all it can to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza but had “not been successful”.
The Israeli prime minister was speaking to CBS when he made the comments regarding the thousands of reported deaths since his forces began their operation against Hamas.
Mr Netanyahu laid the blame for the civilian deaths squarely at the feet of the group which attacked Israel on 7 October.
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He said: “Any civilian death is a tragedy. And we shouldn’t have any because we’re doing everything we can to get the civilians out of harm’s way, while Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm’s way.
“So we send leaflets, (we) call them on their cell phones, and we say: ‘leave’. And many have left.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Pic: AP
“The other thing that I can say is that we’ll try to finish that job with minimal civilian casualties. That’s what we’re trying to do. Minimal civilian casualties. But unfortunately, we’re not successful.”