Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed a joint session of the United States Congress as his country conducts a war on Gaza in which more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Netanyahu on Wednesday presented a defence of Israel’s war, launched on October 7, the day Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups carried out attacks on Israeli territory in which 1,139 people were killed.
The prime minister spoke of a plan for what he termed a “de-radicalised post-war Gaza” but offered few details beyond the assertion that Israel would retain security control over the strip. Outside Congress, meanwhile, protesters called for him to be prosecuted for alleged war crimes as families of some Israeli captives held in Gaza were evicted from the building for demanding answers from the Israeli premier.
So what were the key claims Netanyahu made in his speech, and how true were they? Al Jazeera fact-checks the prime minister’s address:
On Rafah attacks
Netanyahu: “Remember what so many people said? If Israel goes into Rafah, there’ll be thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of civilians killed. Well, last week, I went into Rafah. I visited our troops as they finished fighting Hamas’s remaining terrorist battalions. I asked the commander there, “How many terrorists did you take out in Rafah?” He gave me an exact number: 1,203. I asked him, “How many civilians were killed?” He said, “Prime minister, practically none. With the exception of a single incident, where shrapnel from a bomb hit a Hamas weapons depot and unintentionally killed two dozen people, the answer is practically none.”
The facts: At least 45 people, including children, were killed in just one attack when Israel fired missiles at a camp housing displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza city in late May. As horrific scenes from the massacre emerged, drawing worldwide condemnation, the United Nations said Rafah was like “hell on Earth”.
By then, a majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people were crammed into the city and its neighbouring areas after fleeing other parts of the enclave because of the war and Israel’s orders to evacuate. From May 6 to Wednesday, Israel has killed more than 4,300 people in the strip while repeatedly targeting schools and Israeli-designated “safe zones”.
Israel also killed dozens, if not hundreds, of people in Rafah in rocket attacks before its forces entered the city.
And while Netanyahu said the Israeli military had killed 1,203 Palestinian fighters, there has been no independent verification of the assertion that those described as “terrorists” were indeed individuals belonging to armed groups.
An Israeli offensive in #Rafah would mean more civilian suffering & deaths. The consequences would be devastating for 1.4 million people@UNRWA is not evacuating: the Agency will maintain a presence in Rafah as long as possible & will continue providing lifesaving aid to people pic.twitter.com/8anQ8Eq6Gv
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 6, 2024
On aid trucks to Gaza
Netanyahu: “Israel has enabled more than 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza.