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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that "no civilians were killed" in Rafah, Gaza, despite thousands of Palestinian deaths there.
Netanyahu addressed a joint session of U.S. Congress for about one hour, invited by U.S. congressional leaders. He compared the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, to the 1941 Pearl Harbor and 2001 Twin Towers attacks, and thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for his support of Israel and for being a "proud Zionist."
Netanyahu asserted that claims of civilian deaths in Gaza were "lies," stating, "Despite all the lies you hear, Gaza is the place where the proportion of non-combatant civilians is the lowest in the history of urban warfare."
He mentioned his recent visit to Rafah, where he reportedly asked Israeli military commanders about civilian casualties and was told that aside from one incident where shrapnel from a bomb unintentionally killed two dozen people, no civilians had been killed.
Netanyahu told Congress members that Israel is making significant efforts to protect civilians in Gaza and blamed Hamas for civilian deaths. He claimed that Israel allowed "over 40,000 people" to pass through aid trucks and argued that if Palestinians in Gaza lack sufficient food, it is not due to Israeli obstruction but because Hamas steals the aid.
Throughout Netanyahu's nearly hour-long speech, he received prolonged standing ovations from U.S. Congress members after every sentence.
In defiance of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation for its brutal attacks on Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
According to local health officials, more than 39,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and more than 90,000 injured since then. More than 9 months after the Israeli offensive, much of Gaza remains devastated by the blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
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