JERUSALEM: Regarding the ongoing conflict in the region, Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Monday, “We are going to change theMiddle East.”
According to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office,Netanyahu met with local leaders of settlements near Gaza, which had comeunder attack by Palestinian armed groups in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu remarked, “What Hamas will experience will be difficult andsevere; we are already deep into the campaign, and we’ve only just begun. Iask for your steadfastness because we are going to change the Middle East.”
The Gaza-based resistance group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Floodagainst Israel early on Saturday, launching a barrage of rockets inresponse to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem andincreased settler violence.
In retaliation, the Israeli army launched Operation Swords of Iron againstHamas in the Gaza Strip.
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The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Monday that the number ofPalestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza has risen to 560, with thenumber of injured individuals reaching 2,900. The Gaza Interior Ministrystated that the Israeli army has escalated its aggression on Gaza withhundreds of airstrikes.
The Israeli army claimed to have targeted over 500 sites in overnightraids on Gaza, which they said belonged to the Hamas and Islamic Jihadgroups. According to the Israeli Health Ministry, at least 800 Israelishave been killed and over 2,300 others wounded in the fighting.