First Stage Of Operation Iron Swords Against Hamas, Gaza Completed, Says Israeli PM Netanyahu

• Benjamin Netanyahu also said that his country is launching an offensive that will continue “continuously until the goals are achieved”

Israel has completed the first stage of its operation Iron Swords, launched in response to a large-scale attack from the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

“The first phase is being completed during these hours as the vast majority of the adversary’s forces who infiltrated our territory are being eliminated,” Netanyahu wrote on the X social network (previously known as Twitter).

He also announced that his country was launching an offensive that would continue “incessantly until our goals are achieved.”

Early on Saturday morning, rocket attacks were launched at Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Alarm signals have sounded continuously since 06:28 a.m. Moscow time in many localities across the country, including the Tel Aviv area and its environs.

Shortly after, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced they were launching Operation ‘Iron Swords’ in retaliation for the attack, coming from the Palestinian exclave.

Under these circumstances, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has approved a call-up of reservists and declared the state of ‘special situation’ within a range of 80 kilometers from the Gaza border. The state of emergency was expanded over the entire territory of Israel late on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was “at war” and was determined to win it. “The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” he added.

Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets intensively struck a number of targets of the Palestinian radical movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the army press service reported.

“Some time ago, IDF fighters carried out intense air strikes against targets used by the terrorist group Hamas to launch attacks on Israel in areas adjacent to the Beit Hanoun security barrier in the Gaza Strip,” the statement says.

According to the Press Service, dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft took part in the strikes. “The Israel Defense Forces will continue to act against the terrorist organization Hamas,” the press service added.

Ismail Haniyeh, the current head of HAMAS’s Political Bureau, said the Palestinian attack was launched in retaliation for Israel’s aggressive actions regarding the Al Aqsa mosque in central Jerusalem.

According to latest reports, the rocket attacks left more than 600 Israelis dead and over 2,000 injured. Israel’s attacks on the exclave left over 300 Palestinians dead and almost 1,900 wounded.