Israel on Monday described Hamas as “a genocidal terrorist organization” and it vowed to eliminate the group as it continues its onslaught on the group.
In a post by the Israel Defense Forces on X, formerly Twitter, the military published a list of the group’s eliminated leaders and promised to take out the group in its entirety.
“Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization. We will eliminate Hamas,” the Israel Defense Forces posted.
The list of key operatives eliminated by IDF are Ali Qadi, Commander of Hamas Nukhba Jabalya Assult Company; Muetaz Eid, Commander of the Hamas Southern District of National Security; and Zachariah Abu Ma’amar, Head of the International Relations Office in Hamas Political Bureau.
Others eliminated are Joad Abu Shmalah, Hamas Minister of Economy in the Gaza Strip, Belal Alqadra, Commander of the Nukhba Southern Khan Yunis Assult Company and Merad Abu Merad, Head of the Hamas Aerial Array in Gaza City.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to “demolish Hamas” as his military prepared to move into the Gaza Strip in search of Islamist militants whose deadly rampage through Israeli border towns shocked the world.
Netanyahu convened that he has expanded the emergency cabinet, including former opposition lawmakers, in a show of unity. “Hamas thought we would be demolished. It is we who will demolish Hamas,” he said.
Israel has told Gazans to evacuate south, which hundreds of thousands have already done in the enclave that is home to more than 2 million people, about half in Gaza City.
Inside besieged Gaza, where conditions are deteriorating and deaths from Israeli air strikes rising, civilians said they were not safe anywhere. Militant group Hamas, which runs Gaza, has told them to ignore Israel’s message to move south.
Conditions are so atrocious that Palestinian health workers are storing bodies in ice cream freezer trucks because moving them to hospitals is too risky and cemeteries are full.
With fears of the conflict spilling over, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his rapid tour of Middle East states, seeking to prevent escalation and secure the release of 126 hostages Israel says were taken by terrorist group back into Gaza.