The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the Gaza war was exacting a ‘very heavy price’ as the toll of soldiers killed in fighting with Hamas mounted.
‘This is a difficult morning, after a very difficult day of fighting in Gaza,’ he said after the army announced 14 soldiers had been killed in the Palestinian territory since Friday.
‘The war is exacting a very heavy price… but we have no choice but to keep fighting,’ he added in a statement.
‘We are continuing with full force until the end, until victory, until we achieve all of our goals: the destruction of Hamas, the return of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will never again constitute a threat to the State of Israel.’
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He added: ‘Let it be clear: This will be a long war… (until) Hamas is eliminated and we restore security in both the north and the south.’
Africa Today News, New York reports that ever since Israel’s ground assault began on 27th of October, the military has lost 153 soldiers in the Palestinian territory, including 10 on Saturday, making it one of the deadliest days for the army, which is also facing Hezbollah militants across its northern border with Lebanon.
Nearly 300 Palestinians have been murdered in fierce fighting in Gaza over the last 24 hours as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have traded threats.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Israeli raids continued across the besieged territory yesterday, including in northern Gaza where entire neighbourhoods have been flattened by air strikes and where ground troops that have been operating for more than six weeks continue to face heavy resistance from Hamas fighters.
Gaza’s health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told newsmen that 297 people were killed and more than 550 wounded in the past 24 hours in Gaza, bringing the death toll since the start of the war on October 7 to more than 18,000 – the majority of them women and children.