The Palestinian Islamist movement "Hamas" will never again exercise "any power" in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
Netanyahu said this at a ceremony in memory of the victims of the attacks of October 7, 2023.
Israel is marking today a national day of remembrance (according to the Jewish calendar - ed. note.), with flags on public buildings lowered to half-mast.
"We have made enormous progress, but there are still missions ahead and we intend to fulfill them," the Israeli Prime Minister said at a ceremony at a military cemetery in Jerusalem.
"There will be no power for "Hamas" in Gaza," he added, vowing to continue pursuing anyone involved in the attack that killed 1,221 people on the Israeli side.
The subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza has claimed the lives of more than 74,000 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.
"As for Iran, we will not allow the ayatollah regime in Tehran to threaten our existence," Netanyahu added, saying the regime was "weaker than ever".
Following the ceasefire in Gaza announced by US President Donald Trump in October 2025, the enclave's political future remains uncertain. Israel, which still controls most of Gaza, has refused to withdraw its forces until Hamas' disarmament is confirmed. The movement, for its part, has insisted on a phased disarmament rather than an immediate and unilateral surrender of its arsenal.
Since the attack on October 7, 2023, Israel has been fighting on several fronts, including in Lebanon against the Tehran-backed Islamist movement Hezbollah, as well as against Iran itself.
Netanyahu also pledged today to continue strikes against Hezbollah in order to "create an opportunity for peace with Lebanon," whose population, he said, "overwhelmingly wants peace." with Israel.
The Israeli army confirmed that it carried out a strike on Saturday aimed at eliminating senior Hamas member Ali al-Amoudi, after the Palestinian Civil Defense earlier reported five people killed in an attack on a residential building in Gaza City, AFP reported.
The Israeli army issued a statement confirming information spread by some media that the attack was directed at Amoudi.
„The strike was carried out while the terrorist was in an apartment used by the Hamas terrorist organization "for terrorist activities," the Israeli army said in a statement, without specifying whether Amoudi had been killed.
The Palestinian Civil Defense said four of the victims of the Israeli strike on the apartment building were women.
Amoudi is deputy chairman of the political bureau of "Hamas" in Gaza and, according to the Israeli army, was the "right-hand man and personal assistant" of the former leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Yahya Sinwar, the "Times of Israel" newspaper notes. Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip in October 2024. According to the Israeli army, Amoudi “participated in the decision-making for the October 7 massacre“.
“Today, Amoudi is the highest-ranking figure in “Hamas“ in Gaza. He is directly involved in terrorist activity and in the reconstruction of the group“, the army also noted, adding that the aim of the operation was to “eliminate the threat“.
Source: www.bta.bg