Israel-Hamas war: Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel didn’t start this war but will finish it; equates Hamas with ISIS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday warned Hamas, saying that “though Israel did not start this war” but “will finish it”.

As part of its retaliation against Hamas, Israel has mobilised 3,00,000 troops. This is the largest mobilisation since the 1973 Yom Kippur War when Israel called up 400,000 reservists, Times of Israel reported.

“We didn’t want this war. It was forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way. Though Israel didn’t start this war, Israel will finish it,” the Prime Minister said.

The war was triggered after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday in a surprise assault that combined gunmen crossing into several Israeli towns with a heavy barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

Israel subsequently declared war on Sunday. The hostilities so far have killed around 900 people in Israel and more than 680 people in Gaza, according to authorities on each side, an Associated Press report said.

The Israeli Prime Minister said that the "savage attacks that Hamas perpetrated against innocent Israelis are mindboggling".

Drawing a parallel between Hamas and ISIS, Netanyahu called for support from its allies. "Hamas is ISIS. And just as the forces of civilization united to defeat ISIS, the forces of civilization must support Israel in defeating Hamas."

As retaliatory Israeli airstrikes continue, more than 1,87,500 people have been displaced in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict, according to a report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, is hosting more than 137,000 people in schools across the territory. The report says airstrikes have razed 790 housing units and severely damaged 5,330 in the territory of 2.3 million people.

The leaders of the US, Germany, Britain, France and Italy have issued a joint statement condemning the attacks on Israel by Islamist militant group Hamas and expressed their "steadfast and united support" for Israel.

"Over the coming days, we will remain united and coordinated, together as allies, and as common friends of Israel, to ensure Israel is able to defend itself, and to ultimately set the conditions for a peaceful and integrated Middle East region," said the statement by US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

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