NNA -nbsp;Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Tuesday for broad international support in the country#39;s war against Gaza-based militants Hamas, which carried out the deadliest attack in Israel#39;s 75-year history.
quot;The world must stand united behind Israel to defeat Hamas,quot; Netanyahu said alongside visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The German leader is one of a slew of top politicians to have visited Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 killed more than 1,400 people. It triggered Israeli retaliatory strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza, where around 3,000 people have been killed ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion.
quot;The savagery that we witnessed perpetrated by the Hamas murderers coming out of Gaza were the worst crimes committed against Jews since the Holocaust,quot; Netanyahu said, referring to the extermination of more than six million Jews by the Nazis.
Speaking in Tel Aviv, Scholz accused Hamas of wanting to quot;hold the citizens of Gaza as human shieldquot; in the densely-populated Gaza Strip, where the militants have taken 199 hostages seized during their attack on southern Israel, according to Israel#39;s military.
quot;We want to protect civilians and avoid civilian casualties,quot; said the German chancellor.
Following his brief stop in Israel, Scholz is set to depart for Egypt to discuss the humanitarian crisis.
quot;The (German) federal government will continue its humanitarian efforts to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population,quot; he said.–AFP
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