Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Saturday night to press forward with the military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to ensure the Palestinian terrorist group can never again harm the Jewish people.
Netanyahu confirmed that the second stage of the war had started with the incursion of ground forces into the enclave on Friday night.
Israel’s goals are the “destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and returning the hostages home,” said the premier.
The decision to launch the ground operation was made unanimously by both the war cabinet and the wider security cabinet, he added.
Netanyahu said that the military and political echelons were committed to decimating Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,400 people.
“We are determined to eradicate this evil from the world, for our existence and for all of humanity,” said the prime minister.
He referenced the biblical injunction to remember what the Amalekites did to the Israelites: “We remember, and we are fighting.”
