Netanyahu says Monday strikes on Gaza hardest yet

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told IDF soldiers from the elite Yohalam division of the Engineering Corps that the country will soon enter the next stage of the operation against Hamas, presumably referring to a ground invasion, the Prime Minister’s Office says.

“We are facing the next stage [of the operation], it is on its way. You know it, you are part of it, you are part of the spearhead. I have enormous appreciation for what you know how to do, your fighting spirit, and your willingness to save our country from these animals, and I am sure we will succeed in this. We have only one task – to crush Hamas, crush it. We won’t stop until we get it done,” the PMO quotes him saying.

The prime minister addressed the soldiers during a visit to an army base some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside of Gaza. While there, he received an overview of the unit’s activities since the start of the war on October 7 and was shown evidence of weapons brought into Israel from the Gaza Strip by Hamas, which were found and seized by the unit.

“We are striking our enemies with tremendous force,” he told the soldiers, according to his office. “Yesterday, during our attacks in Gaza, we dealt the enemy the hardest blow he has suffered in a single day. We have killed many dozens of terrorists, possibly many more than that, and at this very moment, we are finding out the exact extent of the damage.”