Netanyahu conceded there was "deprivation" in Gaza, but said “no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war” if Israel was implementing a “starvation policy.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to defend a new military offensive in one of Gaza’s most populated areas amid growing condemnation at home and abroad, declaring that Israel “has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas.

Israel's security cabinet has approved plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Israeli military to occupy Gaza City, in an expansion of military operations that comes amid international condemnation of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.