Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu stated today during one of the events on the occasion of yesterday's Israeli day in memory of those who fell in the wars and the victims of terrorism, that the war in the Gaza Strip is a battle for the existence of his state, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"The question in this war is whether we – Israel, or they – the monsters of "Hamas", Netanyahu said at the commemoration ceremony at Mount Herzel (Har Hazikaron), Israel's national memorial and cemetery park.
"Either existence, freedom, security and prosperity, or obliteration, bloodshed, rape and subjugation," the prime minister added. Seven months after the unprecedented attack by the radical Palestinian group "Hamas" against Israeli territory on October 7 last year and Israel's fierce military response with an offensive in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu vowed that Israel was "determined to win this battle" and that the enemy will "continue to pay a heavy price for his misdeeds".
The Israeli Prime Minister added that a victory over "Hamas" will mean the return home of all Israeli hostages held by the Islamist movement. Such a victory will guarantee "our existence and our future,", he added.
The war in Gaza will determine the fate of Israelis for decades to come, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said today, as quoted by DPA.
"This is a war with no options," Gallant said in his Memorial Day speech. "This is a war that will continue until we get the hostages back, until we topple the rule of "Hamas" and its arsenal and we will not give the State of Israel prosperity and creativity again, so that the smiles on the faces of its citizens will return", the Minister of Defense said.
In the surprise bloody attack by "Hamas" on October 7, about 1,200 Israelis were killed, most of them civilians, and 250 people were taken hostage by Islamists in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli figures. According to the Health Ministry of "Hamas" the dead Palestinians in the retaliatory Israeli offensive in Gaza are already around 35,000.
Gallant said that one of the main tasks of the Israeli army is to make sure that those nearly 250,000 Israelis who have been displaced from areas along the borders with Gaza and Lebanon because of the fighting with "Hamas" and the exchange of fire with the Lebanese Shia group "Hezbollah", to return to their homes.
According to Israel's Ministry of Defense, since 1860 (when the first Israeli settlers in the Land of Israel went beyond the walls of Jerusalem and founded the first Jewish settlements – ed.) more than 25,000 Israeli soldiers have been killed in armed conflicts, notes DPA. Since October 7, more than 700 people from the Israeli security forces have died, including 620 military personnel, the Israeli Ministry of Defense explains.