Israel does not need permission to launch strikes on Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, the Israeli prime minister said his country’s security policy was in its “own hands” after suggestions Israel was a “client state” of the United States.
“We are not willing to tolerate attacks against us, we respond at our discretion against attacks, as we saw in Lebanon and recently in Gaza,” said Mr Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader was speaking after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which killed a commander in the group’s elite Radwan special forces unit on Sunday.
On the same day, the IDF launched an air strike in the Nuseirat area in central Gaza, killing what Israel said was a member of Islamic Jihad who had planned to carry out an “imminent” attack against Israeli troops.
‘We are not asking anyone for approval for this’
Mr Netanyahu said that Israel had dropped 150 tonnes of munitions on Hamas following an attack that killed two Israeli soldiers in Rafah last Sunday, which threatened to derail the US-mandated ceasefire.
“Of course we also thwart dangers in their formation before they materialise, as we did just yesterday in the Gaza Strip. We are not asking anyone for approval for this,” he added.
Mr Netanyahu also insisted Israel would determine which countries were allowed to contribute to an international stabilisation force to be set up to enforce the disarmament of Hamas.
There have been reports that Turkey is likely to be excluded from the stabilisation force after objections from Israel.
Mr Netanyahu added: “This is of course also acceptable to the United States, as its most senior representatives have expressed in recent days. Israel is an independent state.
“We will defend ourselves on our own and we will continue to control our own destiny.”
The IDF launched an air strike in the Nuseirat area in central Gaza on Sunday – Jehad Alshrafi/AP
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu was forced to deny that Israel had become a “client state” of the US, accusations that JD Vance, the US vice-president, also denied.
Speaking on his first visit to Israel, Mr Vance said: “We don’t want a client state, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership. We want an ally here.”
Marco Rubio, America’s top diplomat, was also dispatched to Israel this week amid concerns that the Israel-Hamas ceasefire could collapse.
Speaking as he travelled to Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, Mr Rubio said: “Every night will bring new challenges on how to keep it together. So we recognise that, but we also feel like we’ve made tremendous progress in the last 12 or 13 days.”
Marco Rubio was dispatched to Israel this week amid concerns that the Israel-Hamas ceasefire could collapse – FADEL SENNA/POOL
Mr Netanyahu also reiterated his rejection of claims that Israel is acting at the behest of the United States, which he previously dismissed as “hogwash”.
“When I was in Washington, it was said there that I control the American administration, that I dictate its security policy to it. Now, the opposite is being claimed – the American administration controls me and dictates Israel’s security policy,” he said.
“Neither of these is true… The relations between us are relations between partners, and this partnership, which has reached an all-time high, was also expressed in the operational co-operation in the second part of Operation Rising Lion,” he added, referring to Israel’s war against Iran in June.
It comes after Donald Trump issued another warning to Hamas over the release of the remaining 13 deceased hostages.
The US president wrote on his Truth Social network: “Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other countries involved in this gret peace will take action…
“Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely.”
Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s top negotiator abroad, confirmed to Al Jazeera that “there will be an entry into new areas in the Strip today to search for the bodies of hostages.”
An Egyptian team, equipped with an excavator and bulldozers, also entered Gaza to help locate the bodies.
