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Netanyahu: We must ensure Oct. 7 never happens again

We will deal with the “vile murderers,” the Israeli prime minister said.

Al-Qassam Brigades terrorists and Gazan civilians waiting for the handover of the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Khan Yunis, Feb. 20, 2025. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.
Al-Qassam Brigades terrorists and Gazan civilians waiting for the handover of the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Khan Yunis, Feb. 20, 2025. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday mourned the four Israelis whose bodies were recovered from Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“The four coffins of our loved ones oblige us more than ever to promise, to swear, that what happened on October 7, [2023], will never happen again,” he said in a statement issued by his office shortly after the identification of Oded Lifshitz’s body.

“The blood of our loved ones cries out to us from the ground. It obliges us to deal with the vile murderers—and we will deal with them,” the prime minister said. “We will return all of our hostages, destroy the murderers, eliminate Hamas and together—with God’s help—we will secure our future.

“O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!” added Netanyahu, citing Psalm 94.

Israel on Thursday received the bodies of three members of the Bibas family—mother Shiri, infant son Kfir and his older brother Ariel, and octogenarian Lifshitz.

During a heated exchange at a conference on conflict-related sexual violence, Israel’s ambassador accused senior United Nations representatives of bias against the Jewish state.
One of the soldiers was killed in an incident in which two others were critically injured and an officer was moderately injured.
“Hezbollah is Iran’s long arm and they don’t want a cease fire,” the ambassador said.
“IDF soldiers must stand between Hezbollah and Israeli civilians. We will not wait for the next attack to reach our homes.”
The Jewish state, by contrast, absorbed Holocaust survivors, Jews expelled from Arab states and others who did not maintain their refugee status.
U.S.-Iran talks have been postponed after an explosive drone killed four Israeli soldiers in Southern Lebanon.