Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed this Thursday to “crush” Hamas and urged the world to treat the Islamists of the Palestinian movement the same as those of the Islamic State (IS).
“Just as ISIS was crushed, Hamas will be crushed. And Hamas must be treated in exactly the same way as ISIS,” Netanyahu said at a news conference after a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is visiting Israel.
Regarding Blinken’s visit, the Israeli Prime Minister stated that it was a “tangible example of the United States’ unequivocal support for Israel.”
“The president [dos EUA, Joe] Biden was absolutely right when he called this ‘pure evil,'” Netanyahu said. referring to Hamas’s unprecedented and surprising attack on Israel last Saturday.
In front of reporters, Blinken said he came to Israel “not only as secretary of state, but also as a Jew,” as he told the story of his own family surviving the Holocaust.
“So Prime Minister, I understand on a personal level the disturbing echoes that Hamas’s massacres have for Israeli Jews, but also for Jews around the world,” Blinken said.
“The message I bring with me is this: You may be strong enough to defend yourself, but as long as the United States exists, you will never have to do that,” he said.
The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli territory on Saturday, dubbed Operation ‘Storm al-Aqsa’, with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen by land, sea and air.
In response to the surprise attack, Israel bombed several Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip from the air, in an operation dubbed “Iron Swords”.
Israel declared all-out war and vowed to punish Hamas like never before, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring he was “at war” with the Palestinian group.
Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as a ‘terrorist group’ by the European Union (EU), the United States and Israel.
Official data on fatalities from the conflict provoked by the Islamist group on Saturday points to 1,300 dead in Israel and 1,354 in the Gaza Strip, official sources from both sides said today.
In addition to the 1,300 deaths in Israel, 3,268 people were hospitalized, of whom 28 were in critical condition, 348 in serious condition and 581 in moderate condition, according to the latest data from the Israeli Ministry of Health.
On the Gaza side, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, in addition to the deaths of 1,354 people, including many civilians, there were 6,049 injuries in several states, as well as 31 deaths in the West Bank, where some 180 were also injured. counted.
According to Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht, in addition to the number of deaths on both sides, approximately 1,000 Hamas militiamen were killed in clashes with security forces on Israeli territory, where sporadic fighting continues. Five militia members were killed on Wednesday.
Source: DN
