Israel Rebuffs Calls to Halt Gaza War as Forces Move South

Israeli forces encircling city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza
Government would consider new cease-fire to release hostages

Israeli military tanks roll near the border with the Gaza Strip on Dec. 5.Photographer: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

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By Gwen Ackerman, Augusta Saraiva, and Fares Alghoul

December 5, 2023 at 7:24 PM UTC

Updated on

December 6, 2023 at 1:45 AM UTC

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Israeli leaders rebuffed mounting pressure to halt the military campaign in the southern Gaza Strip, vowing to press on until Hamas is eradicated even as the death toll rose and the United Nations warned that civilians had no safe harbor amid the bombing.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a briefing with other members of his war cabinet, said that if the rest of the world wants the war to end quickly, it must stand with Israel. He accused international organizations of ignoring what he said were “abhorrent” cases of rape by Hamas fighters during the Oct. 7 incursion that touched off the latest violence.