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The Palestinian group has threatened to start killing hostages if attacks on Gaza do not stop. Meanwhile, on the northern border, fears are growing over the actions of Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Netanyahu calls for national unity and promises to defeat Hamas, which he compares to Daesh

The Pentagon says that the US attack only delays Iran's nuclear programme by a few months

France awards Hammouchi the Legion of Honour medal

Expectation of Mohammed VI's visit by jet ski to Cabo Negro

El primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu - PHOTO/FILE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Margarita Arredondas
Updated: 10/10/23

Israel enters its fourth day of war after the Hamas incursion. The death toll from the brutal attack continues to rise. The terrorist group's land, sea and air offensive has already left over 900 dead and more than 2,000 wounded, while a hundred people are being held captive in Gaza.

After several days of heavy fighting, the Israeli army has largely regained control in the south of the country and "restored full control" over the border, where the bodies of around 1,500 Hamas fighters have been found. 

Similarly, Israel continues to bomb targets of the terrorist group and other militias in the Gaza Strip. These air strikes have killed at least 687 Gazans, according to local authorities. As The Times of Israel reports based on statements by IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the rate of Israeli air force strikes against the Gaza Strip is five times higher than against Hezbollah during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has also announced a total blockade of Gaza, making the Rafah crossing with Egypt the only point of entry and exit from the Palestinian enclave. In fact, an Israeli army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, has advised Palestinian refugees to leave via the Rafah crossing on Gaza's southern border in the direction of Egypt. However, hours later, the Egyptian authorities closed the crossing. 

Similarly, according to Reuters, several Palestinians have confirmed receiving calls and audio messages from Israeli security agents urging them to leave certain areas of the territory, especially the north and east, warning them that the army would launch operations in these areas.

In addition to air strikes, there is speculation of a possible ground attack on Gaza after the Israeli authorities announced the mobilisation of 300,000 reservists in just two days. "We have never recruited so many reservists on such a scale," Rear Admiral Hagari acknowledged. "We are going on the offensive," he added.  

"What we do to our enemies in the next few days will affect them for generations" 

Amid this situation Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed the nation in his first public appearance since Saturday night warning that the coming days will be "difficult" but vowing to win the war. "We are in an operation for our home, a war to secure our existence, a war that we will win," he declared. 

In his speech, Netanyahu also compared Hamas to Daesh. "We have always known what Hamas is, now the world knows it too. Hamas is ISIS," he said. These statements by the Israeli leader come after Hamas threatened to start killing hostages if Israel continued to bomb targets in Gaza. They also said they would record and publish the killings.

In addition to the fight against Hamas, national unity was a key point in the Prime Minister's speech. Netanyahu has urged the country to unite after months of political and social division over controversial judicial reform. "The divisions among us are over. We are all united. And when we are united, we win," said the Prime Minister, who called on the opposition to establish an "emergency national unity government" as it did during the Six-Day War. 

"We have barely begun to attack Hamas," Netanyahu said in the nationally televised speech. "What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will impact on them for generations," he added.

"Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day" 

Israel's President Isaac Herzog has also addressed the nation and the international community, calling on them to strongly condemn the massacres committed by Hamas just as they did the Daesh killings.

Herzog said that not since the Holocaust have they witnessed such brutal scenes as those witnessed over the weekend. "We have seen Jewish women, children and elderly people - even Holocaust survivors - being put into trucks and taken into captivity," the Israeli president lamented. Referring to Hamas and its actions, Herzog spoke of "inhumanity", "barbarism" and "brutality" and called on all countries to label it a terrorist organisation.  

The vast majority of Western countries have condemned Hamas's actions and expressed their support for Israel. Many landmarks in European capitals and US cities have been dyed blue and white in solidarity with the victims and their families.

Similarly, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reaffirmed their condemnation of the Hamas attack in a joint statement in which they also expressed their strong support for Israel, pledging to stand with it so that it can "defend itself against such atrocities". 

Fears grow of war spreading to northern border and region 

As sirens continue to sound in much of central and southern Israel, fear in the north is growing following the actions and threats of the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Since the Hamas-Israel war began, the Iranian-linked terrorist organisation has taken advantage of the chaos and launched several missiles into Israeli territory.

Similarly, several Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists crossed the border and infiltrated into Israeli territory. Some of them were eliminated by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), while others managed to flee to Lebanon. 

According to Ynet, Israel has reportedly warned Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that if he joins the war with Hamas, they will use the help of the US naval force heading for the eastern Mediterranean. These messages were reportedly sent through senior French government officials, to whom the Israeli authorities pointed out that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad himself and Damascus 'would also be destroyed' in the event of Hezbollah's entry into the war. On the other hand, according to Axios, the United Arab Emirates has warned the Syrian leader not to intervene in the Hamas-Israel war or allow attacks on Israel from Syrian soil. 

Israel has on numerous occasions attacked Syrian territory, in particular airports and ports where Iranian weapons arrive and are destined for Palestinian territories. Iran is the main sponsor of these militias and played a key role in the recent attack on Israel, although Tehran denies these accusations. 

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