Speaking in English, Netanyahu says Israel taking ‘special care’ to avoid civilian casualties

Now speaking in English, Netanyahu calls Hamas’s firing of rockets at Jerusalem on Monday evening — kicking off this week’s fighting in Gaza — “a totally unprovoked attack.”

“You know and I know no country will not tolerate this. Israel will not tolerate this. Israel has responded forcefully to these attacks and will continue to respond forcefully,” he says.

He accuses Hamas of “committing a double war crime” by firing rockets at Israeli citizens from within population centers in Gaza.

He touts the “special care” Israel takes to avoid civilian casualties, such as alerting occupants of buildings it is going to strike before it bombs them.

He also thanks US President Joe Biden for his “clear and unequivocal support.”

Netanyahu then turns to the ethnic violence in Israel.

“The Jewish state will not tolerate pogroms against our citizens. We will not allow our Jewish citizens to be lynched or live in fear of murderous Arab gangs. We will not tolerate the torching of synagogues and the torching of property,” he says.

He also says Israel won’t allow Jews to take the law into their own hands “and attack innocent Arabs or lynch innocent Arabs,” noting the incident in Bat Yam.

“To tolerate this unacceptable vigilantism and violence is to pave the way to anarchy,” he says.

Netanyahu concludes: “I’m confident Israel will be able to deal with these threats from without and these threats from within.”