Israel-Hamas War Update: As the Israel-Hamas conflict enters day four, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has compared the Hamas fighters with the terrorist outfit ISIS. He said Israel always knew about Hamas and now the "whole world knows". Comparing the militant group with ISIS, Netanyahu said his forces would destroy Hamas in the same way the world defeated ISIS. He said: "We always knew who Hamas was, now the whole world knows. Hamas is ISIS - and we will defeat it just as the enlightened world defeated ISIS. This bitter enemy wanted war - and he would get war."
Meanwhile, the raging war has claimed the lives of more than 1,500 people and the count is expected to soar further. Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel as the country launches a "total" siege on Gaza.
"We are putting a complete siege on Gaza … No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – it’s all closed," Gallant said in a video statement, as per Al Jazeera.
Top Points On Israel Hamas War
- An Israel Defense Force (IDF) officer has succumbed to injuries after an encounter with militants near the northern border with Lebanon, Israeli hospital officials said, as per CNN.
- Nearly 900 people have died in Israel and more than 625 were killed in Gaza taking the toll to over 1,500, reported the Times of Israel.
- The White House was illuminated in the blue and white colors of the Israeli flag as a symbol of the United States’ 75-year relationship.
- Israeli authorities believe up to 150 hostages are being held in Gaza as it lays siege to in a bid to "obliterate Hamas terrorist capabilities," Israel's ambassador to the United Nations said, as quoted by CNN.
- In a late-night post on X, formerly Twitter, Netanyahu mentioned at length the steps taken by Israel and said the actions have "only begun", hinting towards a more intense operation towards his earlier vow of turning Hamas areas in Gaza into "rubble". He listed five actions that he took after Hamas began the surprise rocket barrage attack and incursions.
- Netanyahu said that at the beginning of the war, he ordered five immediate things to be done. The first was to purify the settlements and repel any entry of the "enemy into our territory". "A second action that is being carried out at these moments - to launch a massive attack against Hamas with an unprecedented intensity. Third action - to fortify the other fronts - on the northern border against Hezbollah, in Judea and Samaria, and within the State of Israel," the Israeli PM further mentioned in the post.
- As for the fourth action, he ordered the continuation of the strengthening of the international support which, he said, he began to mobilise with the outbreak of the campaign on Saturday, "in order to preserve our space of action against our enemies". "A final action, for me, is of utmost importance - to establish the unity of the people. The division within us is over. We are all united. And when we are united - we win," he said.
- PM Netanyahu hailed Israeli fighters and called on the opposition leaders to immediately establish a national emergency government without preconditions. He said that the actions they have only "begun" to strike at Hamas.
- Expressing his gratitude to US President Joe Biden for sending aircraft to back Israel, Netanyahu said, "I am in continuous contact with President Biden, and I would like to thank him again, on behalf of all the citizens of Israel, for the commitment of the USA in words and deeds for the security of Israel. An American aircraft carrier, one of the largest in the world, is on its way to our region. Our common enemies in space understand very well the significance of this step."
- According to Reuters, Argentina’s foreign minister Santiago Cafiero said that seven Argentinian nationals were killed in the attacks by Hamas terrorists in Israel this weekend.