But in a new interview with CBS, he made a surprising admission - surprising especially given the current scrutiny on him after international institutions, including a panel of UN experts - have accused Israel of conducting "genocide" and "war crimes". Netanyahu acknowledged to CBS that Israel has not been successful in minimizing civilian casualties among civilians.

He ultimately blamed Hamas for this while vowing the Israeli military would "try to finish the job" of eradicating the Islamist terror group.

But he emphasized in surprisingly blunt words: "That's what we're trying to do: minimal civilian casualties. But unfortunately, we're not successful."

He presented the context as one where Hamas was preventing civilians from leaving northern Gaza "at gun point". He claimed that Hamas "fired at the safe corridors that we provided for the Palestinians."