Israel 'not successful' in bid to minimise Gaza civilian casualties, says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel's attempts to minimise casualties in Gaza were "not successful".

In an interview with CBS News, Netanyahu was asked about Israel's killing of thousands of Palestinians as it retaliates for the 7 October attack by Hamas.

"The other thing that I can say is that we'll try to finish that job with minimal civilian casualties. That's what we're trying to do: minimal civilian casualties. But unfortunately, we're not successful," Netanyahu said, also adding that he blamed Hamas for the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza.

"Any civilian death is a tragedy. And we shouldn't have any because we're doing everything we can to get the civilians out of harm's way, while Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm's way."

At least 11,500 Palestinians, more than 4,700 of them children, have been killed in Israel's bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Israel's military operation has targeted schools, hospitals, residential neighbourhoods and ambulances.

The weeks-long military campaign comes in response to the attack by Hamas, which Israel says killed 1,200 people. Hamas also took about 240 people as hostages, according to Israel.