When asked if he would accept responsibility for the October 7 incident, Netanyahu declined to speak with CNN.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, declined to comment on Sunday when asked if he would accept responsibility for his inability to stop the attack on Israel on October 7, claiming that such “difficult” issues would have to wait until after the war.

Netanyahu said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that while it is “a question that needs to be asked,” for the time being the nation must come together in support of the objective of vanquishing Hamas, the terrorist organization that occupies Gaza and carried out the attack on Israel.

The prime minister declared, “We’re going to answer all these questions,” but added, “Right now, I think what we have to do is unite the country for one purpose; to achieve victory.”

“Let’s concentrate on winning; that is now my duty.”

Netanyahu has come under fire for not seeing coming the bloodiest attack on Israel since its inception in 1948, when Israeli officials report that Hamas militants killed over 1,200 people and kidnapped over 200 more last month.

Families of hostages held by the extremist organization in Gaza demanded on Saturday during a demonstration in Tel Aviv that Netanyahu and the government take further action to ensure their loved ones’ release.

The prime minister identified the release of the hostages as one of his two military objectives, along with the defeat of Hamas, and told CNN on Sunday that Israel is working “around the clock” to achieve this aim.

In response to international appeals for a ceasefire, Assad reaffirmed his position and stated that the only stoppage of hostilities he would accept is “one in which we have our hostages released.”

Tens of thousands of Gazans have been utilizing makeshift evacuation corridors to escape to the south of the territory for many days. Netanyahu told CNN that “that’s not a pause” when asked if he would permit pauses lasting many days.

Netanyahu asserted, “If you’re talking about stopping the fighting, that’s exactly what Hamas wants,” claiming that Hamas would take advantage of those protracted pauses to restock its supplies.

He claimed that Hamas desired an unending string of pauses that would essentially neutralize the opposition.

“There’s no reason we can’t just remove the patients from there.”

At least 11,025 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza since the October 7 attacks, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, which gathers its statistics from the area under Hamas control.

Over 27,000 other people have been injured, according to the ministry, which also stated that this toll includes 3,027 women and 4,506 children.

When asked about Gaza hospitals that relief organizations and health officials claim are in a “catastrophic situation” as Israel’s ground offensive advances in northern Gaza, Netanyahu told CNN that Israel is assisting patients by setting up safe corridors on the ground, but he insisted that Hamas will receive “no immunity.”

He declared, “We have routes designated to a safe zone south of Gaza City.” “We demand that all civilians be relocated out of danger.”

Netanyahu said that “about 100” people had already been evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital, the biggest medical facility in Gaza, and blamed Hamas for the civilian deaths. “There isn’t any reason why we can’t simply remove the patients from that location,” he declared.

Such assertions cannot be verified by CNN. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was unable to verify whether any evacuations had occurred despite Israel having earlier on Sunday proclaimed the opening of a corridor close to Al-Shifa Hospital.

The Israeli military has refuted claims made by Palestinian officials in Gaza and the West Bank that it fired at individuals moving between medical buildings.

Gaza after the War

The question of who will lead Gaza after the conflict is still very much up in the air.

The Palestinian Authority, which has some degree of autonomy over the occupied West Bank, was mentioned by the US this week as a potential partner.

Netanyahu stated that Israel would play a “over-riding, over-reaching military envelope” to secure Gaza after the battle, but he did not elaborate.

Alongside it would be “a reconstructed civilian authority… some kind of civilian Palestinian Authority” that would govern Gaza and be in charge of educating kids for a “future of peace, cooperation, prosperity, cooperation with Israel,” rather than “the annihilation of Israel,” and “willing to fight the terrorists.”

“That hasn’t happened so far,” he continued.

Something else must exist. If not, we’ll just keep traveling down the same rabbit hole and end up where we started. Netanyahu went on, “Remember that the PA [Palestinian Authority] was already in Gaza.”

After a brief civil war with Hamas, the PA, which had previously controlled both Gaza and the West Bank, was forced out.