The Israel Defense Forces has already killed “thousands of terrorists above and beneath the ground” in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a prime-time televised speech on Tuesday.
“In the south, the war in the [Gaza] Strip is progressing with a force that Hamas has never known,” said Netanyahu, speaking exactly 30 days after Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel.
“Since the beginning of the ground maneuver, we have destroyed countless Hamas headquarters, tunnels, bases and facilities. We are reaching places that Hamas never thought we would reach,” he continued as he praised the “unparalleled fighting spirit” of the IDF.
“There will be no ceasefire without the return of our hostages,” the prime minister reiterated, vowing to until Hamas’s governing and military capabilities are destroyed.
At the end of “Operation Swords of Iron,” said Netanyahu, “Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
“I say with certainty: Out of the darkness and pain we will come out stronger, more just and more united. Together, we will fight and, with God’s help, together we will win,” concluded Netanyahu.
Thousands of Hamas terrorists infiltrated southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people and wounding thousands more. At least 240 Israelis and foreign nationals—men, women and children of all ages—were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
Since Oct. 7, IDF forces attacked more than 14,000 terror targets in the coastal enclave, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari confirmed on Tuesday night.
“Hamas terrorists are telling themselves that there will be a ceasefire— there won’t be one. We are moving forward,” vowed the spokesman.
