- Three months after the Hamas attacks that prompted Israel to invade Gaza, the IDF says it has completed its mission in the North
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he had a “clear message” for the enemies of Israel and that was that what happened on 7 October “will not happen again”.
In a cabinet meeting today, Mr Netanyahu said Israel was “not stopping until victory”.
“Every other consideration must be set aside and we must continue until total victory,” he said.
He went on to say Hezbollah should learn what Hamas “has already learned in recent months”.
“No terrorist is immune,” he added.
“We are determined to defend our citizens and to return the residents of the north safely to their homes. That is a national goal that we all share and which we are all working to achieve responsibly.
“If we can, we will do so diplomatically, and if not, we will work in other ways.”
Meanwhile, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said it has “completed the dismantling of Hamas’s military framework” in northern Gaza.
He claimed 8,000 Hamas fighters had been killed, though gave no evidence.
There were five objectives for the campaign in the north, he said:
- Targeting commanders
- Purge the area of terrorists
- Gather intelligence
- Locate and destroy rockets
- Eliminate the subterranean capability (tunnels)
He said now forces were “focusing on dismantling Hamas in the central and southern Gaza Strip”.
“We will do this differently, thoroughly, based on the lessons we have learned from the fighting so far,” he said.
Mr Hagari went on to say in the Jabalia area, the IDF had “eliminated the battalion commander”.
He added: “Jabalia is a densely populated area. Before entering such a dense area for combat, we evacuate the population, aiming to prevent harm and protect the civilians.”
With reports from Sky News