Rare speech on Shabbat
Netanyahu warns Hamas: “This is just the beginning”
October 13, 2023, 9:51 p.m
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Since Hamas’ major attack last Saturday, Israel has been carrying out air strikes on the Gaza Strip. For the first time, however, the Israeli military is also carrying out smaller ground operations. Just the beginning, said Prime Minister Netanyahu. Israel will never forgive or forget.
Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to Islamist Hamas in a rare Shabbat speech that Israel will “never forgive or forget the cruel deeds of our enemies.” The Israeli Prime Minister also warned the radical Islamic Palestinian organization that the current counter-strikes in the Gaza Strip were only the beginning of the offensive: “This is just the beginning,” Netanyahu said in the evening. “We will destroy Hamas and win, but it will take time.” It was the first time that Netanyahu gave a speech of this form on the Jewish day of rest Shabbat.
“We will defend our homeland like lions,” Netanyahu continued. “We will wipe out Hamas and win. It will take time, but after this war we will be stronger than ever before.”
Hamas demands resistance
According to its own statements, the Israeli army had previously carried out small operations with ground troops and tanks in the Gaza Strip for the first time. The army said the missions were used to search for “missing people” and enemy missile positions. To date, Israel has relied on air strikes in the fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. During its major attack on Israel almost a week ago, the radical Islamic organization kidnapped around 150 hostages from Israel to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army had also announced that it would carry out significant operations in Gaza City in the coming days and called on Gaza residents to leave residential areas by evening and move to the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The residents could not return until this was communicated, it said. Hamas, on the other hand, called on residents to stay put and announced that they would fight until the end.
Egypt seals off southern border
At the same time, calls for the creation of safe zones for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip are becoming louder. According to government sources, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke about this with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Thursday’s meeting discussed the need to protect the lives of civilians in the densely populated Gaza Strip and establish some safe areas, a US State Department official said.
Israel’s neighboring countries are already preparing for the consequences of a possible ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian army is reportedly massing thousands of troops on the southern border of the Palestinian coastal area. It says “unprecedented measures” have been taken to prevent a border violation. The security representative described a possible Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip as a “serious mistake.”