Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that his country would “transform the Middle East” over the war with Hamas, according to a statement from his office.
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“What Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible… we will change the Middle East,” Netanyahu told senior local officials in southern Israel, where Hamas militants carried out a surprise attack on Saturday morning.
The Israeli army ordered a “complete siege” of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Monday, on the third day of the Palestinian Islamist movement’s surprise and massive offensive that Israel compared to September 11, 2001.
“We are already in the middle of the campaign, but this is just the beginning,” Netanyahu said during that meeting, adding: “We will defeat them with force, enormous force.”
According to the army, more than 700 Israelis were killed and 2,150 injured in just over 48 hours. On the Palestinian side, 560 people were killed and 2,900 injured, according to local authorities.
AFP