Netanyahu announced the launch of the second phase of the war by Israel

Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Netanyahu announced the launch of the second phase of the war by Israel

Netanyahu: Israeli soldiers entered Gaza to destroy Hamas

On 28 October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of the second stage of the war to destroy the Palestinian Hamas movement and free the hostages.

"This is the second phase of the war. Our challenges are very clear - to destroy the military and governmental power of Hamas and bring the victims home," The Guardian quotes Netanyahu as saying.

During a press conference in Tel Aviv, he added that allies in Western and Arab countries understand the goals of Israel's war with the Palestinian movement and wish the Jewish state victory.

Netanyahu also announced that the Israeli army had entered the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas and free the hostages.

The day before, on October 27, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced an "expansion of ground forces" in the enclave. Later that day, Hamas announced that the Gaza Strip had been attacked by Israel "from land, sea and air".

On 28 October, the IDF announced that fighter jets had carried out night strikes on 150 underground Palestinian movement sites in the north of the enclave. Hamas, for its part, said that attempts by the Israel Defense Forces to advance in three directions in the Gaza Strip had failed.

Israel's ambassador to Russian Federation, Alexander Ben Zvi, said the IDF is indeed conducting a military operation in the enclave "from the air, from the sea and from the ground", but it has not yet taken on a wide scale.

Later that day, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced the beginning of a new phase of the war. According to him, hostilities will continue until a new order is issued.

On 7 October, Hamas subjected Israeli territory to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and also attacked border areas in the south of the country. On the same day, the Israeli side launched retaliatory strikes.

According to the latest figures, more than 7.7 thousand people have been killed and more than 19.7 thousand injured in the Gaza Strip.On the Israeli side, 5.4 thousand people have been injured and 1.4 thousand have been casualties.

The Palestinians are trying to return the border between the two countries to the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestine wants to create its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel rejects the conditions set.

(Izvestia/USA)