Netanyahu vows to destroy Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held the first meeting of the emergency government formed after the outbreak of hostilities in the country. During the event, he promised to destroy the Palestinian Hamas movement, his words were quoted by the government press service.

“We work around the clock – as a team and as a united front. <…> Hamas thought that we would disintegrate – we would destroy Hamas,” Netanyahu said, Kommersant reports.

In turn, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Golant, who spoke next, also said that the IDF intends to destroy all Hamas militants and wage a “powerful and deadly war.” He promised not to complete the “mission” until all the militants were destroyed.

Earlier it was reported that Israeli soldiers were ordered to capture the city of Gaza and destroy the top military and political leadership of the region, the media writes. People living in the north of Gaza were offered to move to the southern part within 24 hours. 1.1 million people had to be evacuated, where, according to official data, a total of 2.2 million live. However, people have nowhere to run. Many remain in their homes without water or electricity and with sewerage problems. According to local residents quoted by the media, there are no bomb shelters in the sector, and during the Israeli army’s bombings people had previously stayed at home, which is why many were buried under the rubble. Most of the dead are women and children. The death toll in the Gaza Strip, according to the UN, is already more than 2.4 thousand people, of which over 720 are children. Almost 9 thousand more were injured. Over 1,300 residential and non-residential buildings were destroyed.

Let us recall that the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement began on October 7, when the movement’s militants fired at Israeli territory. In response, Israel blockaded the Gaza Strip, and local residents found themselves “trapped.” Currently, there is a difficult humanitarian situation in the enclave.

The day before, Israel announced preparations for a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, which the army planned to begin on the night of October 15. According to Axios, Iranian authorities have threatened to “respond” if Israel launches such an operation. On the morning of October 15, Tel Aviv announced that it had temporarily postponed the start of the operation, citing bad weather conditions.