Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his Cabinet on Tuesday that Hamas will try to challenge Israel ahead of the Oct. 27 national election.
“Precisely because Hamas is so weak, it will try to challenge us with the remainder of its forces ahead of the elections,” the prime minister said. “We are ready for this. First of all, we will thwart such attempts. And, in any case, we will respond to them with tremendous force if they make this mistake. I say to all our enemies: ‘Look at what we did to you on seven fronts in the War of Revival. Don’t tangle with us.”
Speaking on the eve of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas invasion, Netanyahu said Israel grieves on the anniversary of the massacre and remembers its victims. Asserting that Israel has killed 4,000 of an estimated 6,000 Hamas fighters over the past three years, he promised it would target those that remain. “None of them has immunity,” he said.
The Gaza envelope, the area of Jewish life bordering the Gaza Strip, has revived, with 90% of southern residents returning to their homes, Netanyahu said. The envelope has seen a “tremendous construction and reconstruction boom. Young couples go there to start a new life. And this is the victory of the spirit over evil, the victory of Israel over its enemies. The same thing is happening in the north as well,” said Netanyahu.
Israel will “ultimately overthrow” Hamas in Gaza, he assured. “Israel is now the strongest country in the Middle East while its enemies are weaker than ever.”
