'October 7 attack equal to sixteen 9/11s': Israeli PM Netanyahu in UN speech
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN, comparing the October 7 Hamas attack to 16 instances of the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. He defended Israel's military actions in Gaza and Iran while dismissing allegations of genocide.
Why it matters
The speech underscores the deep diplomatic divide at the UN regarding the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and the intensity of the rhetoric used by involved leaders.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack was, in proportionate terms, equivalent to 16 September 11 attacks in the United States.Recalling the attack, Netanyahu said Hamas militants had killed about 1,200 people in Israel, including civilians, and abducted 251 others.“These Hamas monsters, they slaughtered Holocaust survivors. They burned babies alive in front of their parents. They beheaded our men. They brutally raped our women. And then they murdered them. Altogether, they slaughtered 1,200 Israelis that day. I want to give you an idea of what this means for a country of 10 million. Proportionately, this is equal to 40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours. That's 16 times 9/11. 16 9/11s that occurred not very far from here. On that darkest of days, our enemies expected us to collapse. Well, we didn't collapse.
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