Israel remains focused on wiping out Hamas after the terrorist group’s brutal killing of 1,400 people and taking over 200 people hostage despite calls for a cease-fire.
On a tour of southern Israel Thursday aimed at boosting morale among troops preparing for a likely ground operation inside Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised to lead Israel to a decisive victory against Hamas.
“We will be precise and forceful, and we will keep going until we fulfill our mission,” Gallant stated.
What exactly that mission is has been clearly echoed throughout Israel’s military ranks up to its political leadership over the last two weeks since an elite unit of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel.
After the murder of 1,400 people, civilians and soldiers and the kidnapping of 210 people, Israel has said it will not stop this war until Hamas, its people and its infrastructure are wiped out.
Voices around the world have begun questioning whether Israel’s response is “proportionate,” calling for restraint as the civilian death toll in Gaza rises and demanding a cease-fire before this conflict drags in other, more nefarious, regional players
But Israelis remain steadfast, believing there is no choice — “It’s either them or us.” There is no room in the region for both.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, reiterated Israel’s goal to destroy Hamas.
“Demanding a ceasefire from Israel is saying that Hamas should get away with what it did — and should keep its ability to do it again,” Levy said.
“Until we complete our mission of dismantling Hamas, urging a ceasefire is the pro-Hamas position.
“We’re talking about whole families cremated alive, burned until there was nothing left of the children but fragments of bone and ash,” Levy said, describing the sprawling attack on multiple communities and towns throughout southern Israel. “These images reminded us not only of ISIS but of the worst horrors of the Holocaust. Israel cannot allow this satanic terror organization to threaten its citizens any longer.”
On Friday night, two of the hostages – U.S. nationals Judith and Natalie Raanan – were released by Hamas, and on Saturday morning the United Nations confirmed that several truckloads of aid had crossed into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Despite this, Israel continued its airstrikes in the Palestinian enclave, hitting key infrastructure sites used by Hamas terrorists.
Miri Eisen, a retired IDF colonel and director of the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Reichman University near Tel Aviv, said, “Israel has no choice in doing this because, on Oct. 7, 2023, all of us who have been following Hamas our entire adult lives were caught by surprise.
