Hillary Clinton has called for the ouster of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the military operation in Gaza enters a crucial phase. Talking to MSNBC on Wednesday, the former Democratic presidential candidate said that the country’s war-time leader “should go” while the terrorist group Hamas still holds more than a hundred Israelis hostage.
“Netanyahu should go. He is not a trustworthy leader,” Clinton claimed in an interview with MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight. “It was on his watch that the [October 7] attack happened. He needs to go, and if he’s an obstacle to a ceasefire, if he’s an obstacle to exploring what’s to be done the day after, he absolutely needs to go,” she said.
This is not the first time Clinton has attacked the Israeli prime minister since the October 7 terrorist attack. In late December, she used a meeting with the family members of the Israelis taken hostage by the terrorist group Hamas to disparage the Israeli leader.
“A delegation of children and siblings of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza met in New York late Wednesday with Hillary Clinton, who urged them to intensify their pressure on the government,” the New York Times reported on December 22. “She further accused Netanyahu of being more focused on “politics and his personal survival” than on negotiating the release of hostages.”
Clinton’s call for Netanyahu’s ouster comes as the Israeli military is poised to take the last Hamas strongholds in southern Gaza. Additionally, Israel has moved several combat units out of Gaza aimed at training them for a military operation in the north as pro-Iranian terrorist group Hezbollah intensified rocket barrages and shelling — forcing nearly 100,000 Israelis to flee their homes along the Lebanon border.
The Times of Israel reported Clinton’s remarks:
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton laid into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war on Wednesday and called for his ouster.“Netanyahu should go. He is not a trustworthy leader. It was on his watch that the [October 7] attack happened. He needs to go, and if he’s an obstacle to a ceasefire, if he’s an obstacle to exploring what’s to be done the day after, he absolutely needs to go,” Clinton told MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight” in an interview.It was unclear whether Clinton believed Israel should permanently halt its military campaign under the present circumstances, having voiced strong support for its war effort in the past.“We wish there was a ceasefire. If Hamas would agree to a ceasefire, there would be a ceasefire,” she said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is training battle-hardened troops from the main theater of combat in Gaza to adapt to a possible conflict with Lebanon-based Hezbollah along the country’s northern border, the Israeli broadcaster Arutz Sheva reported Thursday:
The 36th Division, the Northern Command’s offensive division, has completed an intense combat operation in the Gaza Strip, during which the division’s soldiers significantly damaged the capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization. Now, the division is increasing its readiness for operational plans against the northern enemy – in defense and offense.As part of the process to enhance readiness on the northern border, this week, the 188th Brigade began a series of intensive exercises to strengthen the skills and preparedness of the brigade’s soldiers. The brigade’s soldiers conducted combat exercises in dense and built-up areas, in winter weather conditions, while training skills and techniques from the platoon level up to the level of the battalion combat teams.The training combines armored, infantry, combat engineering, and artillery forces practicing operations against the northern enemy, following the experience of ground operations in the Gaza Strip.The exercises are led by the Northern Training Center (Ground Forces Training Center), where the training forces are implementing the lessons learned from the fighting in Gaza and making adjustments for combat in the north, including the various challenges regarding terrain and the enemy.
The IDF continued with its retaliatory strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon.
With the Israeli ground forces tightening the noose around Hamas’s Gaza-based leadership in Khan Yunis stronghold, many terrorists, including those who took part in the October 7 massacre, are being captured by the IDF.
“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday reported apprehending dozens of suspected terrorists, including two individuals who took part in the October 7 massacre. Additionally, a Nukhba terrorist was arrested,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reports. “Multiple encounters are said to have resulted in killings of terrorists. In Khan Yunis, IDF troops started killing over 20 terrorists during offensives.”
With Hamas running low on jihadist morale and ammunition, many terrorists are crawling out of their tunnels and civilian hideouts to surrender to the IDF. On Thursday, the Israeli military released a video of a captured commander of Hamas’s elite Nukhba terror unit urging his fellow terrorists to give up.
The Israeli news website Ynet reported:
The Shin Bet security agency released on Thursday footage from the interrogation of a Hamas terrorist who was arrested along with two other terrorists in a tunnel in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.According to the Shin Bet, the interrogated terrorist, who is reportedly a commander in the terror organization’s elite Nukhba unit, revealed that he and the other two terrorists chose not to fight and surrender to the IDF soldiers who entered the tunnel.The Shin Bet said that the tunnel commander and the other terrorists were apprehended deep inside Khan Younis by Shin Bet operatives and IDF soldiers while hiding behind a reinforced door, armed with anti-tank missiles and explosives. “We will continue to act and strike at Hamas terrorists from above and below ground,” the Shin Bet said.
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