Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of the United States Congress last Wednesday, as his government carries out a genocide in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 39,000 Palestinians.
Last Wednesday, Netanyahu justified Israel’s war, which commenced on October 7th 2023, the day Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions carried out a surprise attack in Israeli called Al-Aqsa Storm.
The prime minister discussed a plan for what he called a ‘de-radicalised post-war Gaza’ but provided scant details aside from stating that Israel would maintain security control over the area.
Outside Congress, demonstrators called for his prosecution for alleged war crimes while families of some Israeli captives held in Gaza were expelled from the building for seeking answers from the Israeli leader.
So, what were the main assertions Netanyahu made in his speech, and how accurate were they? We fact-check 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: In a single attack, at least 45 individuals, including children, were killed when Israel fired missiles at a camp housing displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza city in late May.
As harrowing scenes from the massacre surfaced, drawing global condemnation, the United Nations described Rafah as akin to ‘hell on Earth’.
By then, the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants were packed into the city and its neighbouring areas after fleeing other parts of the enclave due to the war and Israel’s evacuation orders.
From May 6th to Wednesday (July 26th), Israel has killed over 4,300 people in the Strip, while repeatedly targeting schools and Israeli-designated ‘safe zones’.
Israel also killed dozens, if not hundreds, in Rafah with rocket attacks before its forces entered the city.
Although Netanyahu claimed the Israeli military killed 1,203 Palestinian fighters, there has been no independent confirmation that those described as ‘terrorists’ were indeed armed group members.
On anti-Israel protests
Netanyahu: ‘We recently learned from the US director of national intelligence that Iran is funding and promoting anti-Israel protests in America. They want to disrupt America.’
‘For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protests that are going on right now outside this building – not that many, but they’re there – and throughout the city.
‘Well, I have a message for these protesters: When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots.’
The facts: Netanyahu did not provide evidence that Iran is financing protesters.
On July 10th, Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, stated that Iran’s government was covertly encouraging American protests to incite outrage before the US elections in November.
‘Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in its efforts to influence foreign affairs, aiming to sow discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions,’ Haines said.
However, Haines did not mention funding.
Anti-war protests erupted on college campuses across the US and worldwide in April.
Tensions escalated when New York police made mass arrests during protests at Columbia University.
On ceasefire negotiations
Netanyahu: ‘The war in Gaza could end tomorrow if Hamas surrenders, disarms and returns all the hostages, but if they don’t, Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’s military capabilities, end its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home.’
The facts: Netanyahu has repeatedly stated he would not agree to any deal that involves ending the war unless Hamas is destroyed. Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for Israel’s own military, has described the goal of eliminating Hamas as unachievable.
Over the years, Hamas has offered peace deals in exchange for the establishment of a sovereign, independent Palestinian state.
Israel has rejected these offers, arguing that Hamas could not be trusted to honour any long-term ceasefire and insisting that proposals for short-term pauses in fighting were insincere and strategically aimed only at allowing the armed group to recover from losses.
On targeting civilians
Netanyahu: ‘The ICC (International Criminal Court) prosecutor accuses Israel of deliberately targeting civilians.
‘What in God’s green earth is he talking about? The Israeli military has dropped millions of flyers, sent millions of text messages, made hundreds of thousands of phone calls to get Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way.
‘But at the same time, Hamas does everything in its power to put Palestinian civilians in harm’s way.
‘They fire rockets from schools, from hospitals, from mosques.’
The facts: As of last Monday, the Israeli military had designated 83 per cent of the Gaza Strip as unsafe for Palestinian civilians.
This part of the enclave has either been declared a ‘no-go zone’ by Israel or residents have been issued evacuation orders, as reported by the UN.
Entire neighbourhoods in northern Gaza have been obliterated while the ‘safe zones’ in southern Gaza are shrinking.
Civilians evacuating their areas on Israel’s orders have often come under fire. This was the case when Israeli forces issued an evacuation order affecting 400,000 people in Khan Younis last Tuesday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated in a press release: ‘The evacuation order was issued in the context of ongoing attacks by the Israeli military and gave no time for civilians to know from which areas they were required to leave or where they should go.
‘Despite the evacuation order, Israeli military operations continued in and around the area unabated.’
Israel has also heavily used ‘dumb bombs’, which are not designed to hit precise targets but cause widespread devastation.
In December, amid increasing attacks in the besieged Strip, a US intelligence assessment revealed that nearly half of the munitions used by Israel in Gaza were unguided bombs.
‘The revelation that almost half of all bombs dropped on Gaza by Israel are unguided dumb bombs completely undercuts their claim of minimising civilian harm,’ Marc Garlasco, a former war crimes investigator for the UN, wrote on social media.
There have also been instances where soldiers have killed unarmed civilians holding white flags.
By June, OCHA reported that over 76 per cent of schools in Gaza required ‘full reconstruction or major rehabilitation’.
Separately, according to Palestinian authorities, 8,572 students were killed in Gaza from October 7th to July 3rd.
On aid trucks to Gaza
Netanyahu: ‘Israel has enabled more than 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza. That’s half a million tonnes of food. And that’s more than 3,000 calories for every man, woman and child in Gaza.
‘If there are Palestinians in Gaza who aren’t getting enough food, it’s not because Israel is blocking it. It’s because Hamas is stealing it.’
The facts: At the outset of the war, Israel imposed a complete blockade of the already besieged Gaza, which included a ban on food, water, medicines, and other essential supplies.
While this was somewhat eased later due to global pressure, the reality on the ground – as reported by the UN, Al Jazeera’s coverage, and other independent organisations – is vastly different from Netanyahu’s claims.
Before the war started, Gaza received an average of 500 aid trucks per day. Since the war began, the UN has recorded a total of 30,630 aid trucks – not 40,000 as Netanyahu claimed.
This averages to 104 trucks per day, only one-fifth of the pre-war amount.
Contrary to the Israeli prime minister’s assertion that there was sufficient food for Gaza’s people, UN experts in July declared that famine had spread throughout Gaza.
