Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed to keep fighting Hamas, saying that every member of the Palestinian militant group was “a dead man”.
In his statement, Netanyahu for the first time clearly expressed Israel’s intention to “destroy” Hamas following its surprise attack on Saturday.
“Hamas is Daesh (Islamic State group) and we will crush them and destroy them as the world has destroyed Daesh,” he said in a brief televised statement, the first delivered jointly with his war cabinet.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant added, “We will wipe Hamas off the face of the earth”.
Netanyahu earlier temporarily settled his political differences and set up an emergency government including centrist former defence minister Benny Gantz for the duration of the crisis.