Benjamin Netanyahu released the following statement on Twitter yesterday,
Israeli citizens,
We are on the third day of the campaign. We are in a war for the house, a war for ensuring our existence, a war in which we will win.
This war was forced upon us by an abominable enemy, human beasts who celebrate the murder of women, children and the elderly. We have not seen the atrocities committed by Hamas since the atrocities of ISIS. Forced children who were executed with the rest of their families. Young men and women who were shot in the back, executed, and other atrocities that I will not describe here.
We always knew who Hamas was, now the whole world knows. Hamas is ISIS - and we will defeat it just as the enlightened world defeated ISIS. This bitter enemy wanted war - and he would get war.
At the beginning of the war, I ordered five immediate things to be done:
First action - purify the settlements and repel any entry of the enemy into our territory. Those battles are still going on. A number of vile terrorists are still among us, and our forces are working around the clock to eliminate them.
A second action that is being carried out at these moments - to launch a massive attack against Hamas with an unprecedented intensity.
Third action - to fortify the other fronts - on the northern border against Hezbollah, in Judea and Samaria, and within the State of Israel.
I embrace the men and women fighters, all the security and rescue personnel, who act with extraordinary courage, even in these moments on all these fronts, and sacrifice their lives to protect the State of Israel.
Fourth action - the continuation of the strengthening of the international support which I began to mobilize with the outbreak of the campaign on Saturday, in order to preserve our space of action against our enemies.
A final action, for me, is of utmost importance - to establish the unity of the people. The division within us is over. We are all united. And when we are united - we win.
The people are united, and now the leadership needs to unite. I call on the opposition leaders to immediately establish a national emergency government without preconditions, as was established with Menachem Begin, on the eve of the Six Day War.
Dear citizens of Israel, we have begun, and I emphasize we have only begun, to strike at Hamas. The images of the devastation and destruction from the Hamas strongholds in Gaza are just the beginning. We have eliminated many hundreds of terrorists, and we will not stop there. I said that every place from which Hamas operates will turn into ruins. It is already happening today, it will happen even more in the future.
I am in continuous contact with President Biden, and I would like to thank him again, on behalf of all the citizens of Israel, for the commitment of the USA in words and deeds for the security of Israel. An American aircraft carrier, one of the largest in the world, is on its way to our region. Our common enemies in space understand very well the significance of this step.
Also, I want to thank many world leaders for your unprecedented support for Israel.
Citizens of Israel, I must also tell you, there is a lot of fake news and false propaganda that is published with the aim of scaring us and dividing us, such as the publication about dozens of tunnels penetrating our territory, or the false publication as if the Egyptian intelligence gave an early warning to Israel before the outbreak of the war - something that did not exist and was not created. You must not fall into these propaganda traps, and you must also equip yourself with what is most needed in the war with patience and composure.
I know we all want results here and now. It will take time. But I assure you dear citizens, at the end of the campaign all our enemies will know that it was a terrible mistake to attack Israel. What is done to our enemies in the coming days will resonate with them for generations. Already today the battlefield is saturated with supreme acts of heroism by our people: soldiers, policemen, civilians. I saw the video of General Zini standing today with his soldiers after our forces eliminated terrorists. This is our spirit, which is expressed in standing firm and determined - together. I also saw a heart-wrenching video of David, an IDF soldier, whose baby son entered the covenant of Abraham our father yesterday. David was in the field with his fellow members of the unit and watched the circumcision ceremony on the screen of the mobile phone, and when the words were heard: "In the blood of my life", tears stood in the eyes of all of us.
Yesterday I appointed Brigadier General Gal Hirsch to be in charge of the abducted and missing persons issue, and he has already started his work. We will do everything for them. Our hearts are with the families of the abductees, our hearts are with the families of the victims.
We lost entire families, sons and daughters, young and old, soldiers and female soldiers, policemen and security personnel, Jews and non-Jews. The shared destiny is ours all. This is not a suggestion. This is a real thing. It is the truest and deepest thing that binds us to each other. Together we will overcome and together we will win - only together.
As the prime minister of Israel, I tell you frankly: difficult days are still ahead of us. We grieve for our brothers and sisters whose blood was shed, and we are determined to win this war, to bring life, blessing and light to our people and our country.
The rise of Israel is a miracle and an example of faith and action. In the book of Samuel it is said: "Israel's eternity will not lie." Throughout the long journey of our people, this promise has been fully fulfilled. This time too we will keep our promise - because the nation of Israel lives.
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