Brian Lawless/PA
Ireland’s incoming taoiseach Simon Harris sent a pointed message to Benjamin Netanyahu during an impassioned speech this weekend.
Ahead of his expected election as Irish premier in the Dail parliament next week, recently appointed Fine Gael leader Simon Harris addressed delegates at his party’s annual conference in Galway on Saturday evening.
His uncontested elevation to leader of Fine Gael came after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation last month.
Harris is to formally replace Mr Varadkar as the head of Ireland’s Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Green Party coalition government in the Dail on Tuesday.
He used this speech to send a strongly-worded message to Israel’s prime minister, Mr Netanyahu, saying:
“Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Irish people could not be clearer. We are repulsed by your actions.”
The message comes as Israel’s military announced it has withdrawn its forces from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, wrapping up a key phase in its ground offensive against the Hamas militant group and bringing its troop presence in the territory to one of the lowest levels since the six-month war began.
But defence officials said troops were merely regrouping as the army prepares to move into Hamas’s last stronghold, Rafah.
“The war in Gaza continues, and we are far from stopping,” said the military chief, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi.
Local broadcaster Channel 13 TV reported that Israel was preparing to begin evacuating Rafah within one week and the process could take several months.
Still, the withdrawal was a milestone as Israel and Hamas marked six months of fighting.
Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under army policy, said a “significant force” remained in Gaza with “freedom of action” to continue targeted operations including in Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold and hometown of the group’s leader, Yehya Sinwar.
AP video in Khan Younis on Sunday showed some people returning to a landscape marked by shattered multi-storey buildings and climbing over debris to explore crumbled, dusty remains.
Israel has vowed a ground offensive on the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah, considered Hamas’s last stronghold, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told his Cabinet that victory means “elimination of Hamas in the entire Gaza Strip, including Rafah”.
But Rafah shelters some 1.4 million people – more than half of Gaza’s population. The prospect of an offensive has raised global alarm, including from top ally the US, which has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians. Allowing people to return to nearby Khan Younis could relieve some pressure on Rafah.
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