Israeli troops are “in the heart of Gaza City,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday, as the nation marked one month of war with Hamas in the Palestinian territory.
“We are in the heart of Gaza City,” Gallant said at a press conference. “Gaza is the largest terrorist base ever built.”
“We are going to destroy Hamas,” he said.
The Israel-Hamas war started on October 7 when fighters from the Islamist group burst out of the Gaza Strip and into southern Israel.
According to Israel, Hamas militants killed some 1,400 people — mostly civilians — and seized more than 240 hostages in the worst attack on the nation since its founding in 1948.
In response, Israel has launched a withering assault on Hamas in the Palestinian enclave it rules, home to some 2.4 million people.
The Hamas-run health ministry there says more than 10,300 people — also mostly civilians — have been killed by Israel’s offensive.
There have been increasing international calls for a ceasefire or “pause” in fighting as the conflict enters its second month.
However Gallant said “there will be no humanitarian truce without the return of the hostages.”