On October 24, in a High Level U.N meeting, Israel rejected the proposition of a cease fire on Hamas. In an AP News article by Edith M. Lederer, they say that, “Israel vowed again to destroy Hamas, rejecting calls for a cease-fire from the U.N. chief, the Palestinians and many countries at a high-level U.N. meeting on Tuesday and declaring that the war in Gaza is not only its war but “the war of the free world.” (October 24, 2023).
According to Edith M. Lederer in the same article, Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also rejected the calls for proportionality for the country’s response to the surprise attacks from Hamas on the 7th of October, that resulted in the death of 1,400 people. He said, “How can you agree to a cease-fire with someone who swore to kill and destroy your own existence?” (October 24, 2023).
He told the U.N. Security Council that the proportionate response to the Oct. 7 massacre is “a total destruction to the last one of the Hamas,” calling the extremist group “the new Nazis.” He stressed: “It is not only Israel’s right to destroy Hamas. It’s our duty.”
Cohen also accused Qatar of financing Hamas and said the fate of the more than 200 hostages taken from Israel, some of whose families came to the U.N. meeting, was in the hands of its emir.
In an ABC also written by Edith M. Lederer, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan stated, “Israel will not stop the operation until Hamas terror capabilities are destroyed and our hostages are returned. … And the only way to destroy Hamas is root them out of their tunnels and subterranean city of terror.” (October 27, 2023).
