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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel struck a defiant tone in marking 100 days of war against Hamas in Gaza, vowing to keep fighting despite growing uncertainty over the outcome, international alarm over the mounting loss of life in the enclave and fears of a broader regional conflagration.<\/p>\n
His pledge to continue until \u201ctotal victory\u201d came even as Israel awaited a decision from the world\u2019s top court on a possible injunction against its military\u2019s devastating offensive in Gaza. Launched in retaliation for the deadly Hamas-led Oct. 7 assault, the Israeli military\u2019s war against Hamas has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, a majority of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials, and displaced most of the enclave\u2019s population.<\/p>\n
Warning of a long conflict, the remarks from Mr. Netanyahu and comments from the Israeli military over the weekend exposed a growing dissonance between the domestic perception of the timing and goals of the war and increasing international impatience in the face of a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n The United States, Israel\u2019s most important ally, has urged Israel to scale down its campaign<\/a>, while many other countries have called for an immediate cease-fire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe are continuing the war until the end \u2014 until total victory, until we achieve all of our goals,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in a televised news conference on Saturday night, saying that \u201celiminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will never again constitute a threat to Israel\u201d were the goals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cNobody will stop us \u2014 not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anybody else,\u201d he added. The Hague is where the United Nations\u2019 top court is hearing accusations<\/a> brought by South Africa that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n The court\u2019s judges heard two days of hearings last week and will now decide whether to call on Israel to adopt provisional measures, such as a stop to fighting, while it assesses the merit of the genocide claim. No date has been set for the announcement of that decision and, in any case, the court has few means of enforcing its rulings.<\/p>\n Mr. Netanyahu in the same breath invoked Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen<\/a>, whose military actions in solidarity, they say, with Palestinians in Gaza have raised the specter of a wider conflict.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The United States led airstrikes on Thursday and Friday against sites in Yemen controlled by the Houthi militia, in response to more than two dozen Houthi attacks<\/a> against commercial shipping in the Red Sea since November. However, the Houthis retained much of their ability to fire missiles and drones, according to U.S. officials.<\/a><\/p>\n At the same time, clashes across the Israel-Lebanon border continued over the weekend.<\/p>\n An antitank missile launched from Lebanon on Sunday hit a house in northern Israel, killing a farmer and his mother, according to initial reports. Israel\u2019s military said that its fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, and that its forces had engaged in a firefight overnight with gunmen who crossed into Israeli-controlled territory from Lebanon. Three gunmen were killed and five soldiers were wounded, the military said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Tens of thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from the country\u2019s northern border areas, and Israel has warned that it will resort to military action<\/a> if diplomatic efforts to allow their safe return home do not bear fruit. Thousands of Lebanese civilians have also fled the border area.<\/p>\n On Sunday, Hezbollah\u2019s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, struck a tone of defiance. \u201cAfter 99 days,\u201d he said, \u201cwe are ready for war. We are not afraid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n For now, Israel\u2019s leaders say they are focusing on Gaza.<\/p>\n While Mr. Netanyahu on Sunday acknowledged that the war \u201cwill yet take many months,\u201d<\/a> his remarks the previous night appeared to be as focused on raising domestic morale as on countering international criticism of the military campaign.<\/p>\n Addressing doubters who have cast the Israeli government\u2019s goal of destroying Hamas, the militant group that has controlled Gaza for 16 years, as unrealistic, he said, \u201cIt is possible, it is necessary, and we will do it.\u201d<\/p>\n As the death toll in Gaza has climbed, international calls for a cease-fire have mounted. The fighting has displaced most of the enclave\u2019s population of 2.2 million people and the United Nations has warned that half the population is at risk of starvation.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe massive death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss, and grief of the last 100 days are staining our shared humanity,\u201d Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the U.N. agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s leaders have continued to speak about what comes next mainly in opaque military terms that have at times heightened friction with its critics and allies alike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n