Israel orders 'total siege' of Gaza: 'We are fighting against human animals and will act accordingly'

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a "total siege" of Gaza after Hamas terrorists resumed missile attacks and new terrorist ground raids into Israel. "I ordered a total siege of the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, and no fuel, everything will be closed. We are fighting against human animals and will act accordingly.” said Gallant.

Israel announces the liberation of all border cities

As the air strike sirens sounded again in Israel, the spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, Daniel Hagari, announced that the border towns occupied by Hamas terrorists are once again under Israeli control, although he warned that there could still be some isolated terrorists. The rear admiral says that the terrorist group "was more barbaric and more brutal than ISIS" in its attack last Saturday, in which it strategically massacred defenseless civilians. Hagari also reported on the progress of military operations by land, sea and air to "return security to the people of Israel," something he guaranteed they would achieve, "although at a high price."

Terrorist incursions from Lebanon

Early Monday afternoon, Israel announced that its troops, aided by helicopters, had killed several armed infiltrators who entered the country from Lebanon. Israeli forces further responded with bombings in southern Lebanon following this attempted attack.

The IDF Homefront Command instructed Israeli civilians in towns near the Lebanese border to remain in their homes. According to OSINT sources, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Lebanese border.

'The worst massacre of innocent civilians in the history of Israel'

The military spokesman insisted that Israeli troops are respecting "international law while exercising our right and our responsibility to protect our civilians." This is something that he claims the terrorists who carried out the attack last Saturday are far from doing, using unarmed and unsuspecting civilians as victims to spread their message of terror, causing "the worst massacre of innocent civilians in the history of Israel."

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant had similar words in message on X (formerly Twitter), saying that "Hamas has become ISIS in Gaza. In this war we fight against a murderous terrorist organization that harms the elderly, women and babies. We will fight it like we fight criminal terrorists and we will win."

Hamas terrorists are hiding 'in schools, hospitals and mosques'

Furthermore, Hagari warned of Hamas terrorists' cowardly strategy in Gaza, using their own fellow citizens as human shields while hiding in critical places such as schools, hospitals and mosques, according to Israeli intelligence services. As detailed by the military spokesman, thousands of Israeli soldiers are going house to house on the ground both in the border regions of Israel and in Palestinian territory to eradicate any remains of the terrorist troops that crossed the border.

Hagari noted that the Israeli army is also monitoring the situation on the northern border, where Hezbollah continues launching missiles against Israel. The spokesperson wanted to emphasize that "we are fully prepared and coordinated with CENTCOM. General Halevi has just finished a conversation with General Kurilla and they will continue speaking again in the next few hours." To close his appearance, Hagari warned that "those who attack us from across the Middle East will face a decisive attack."

Aerial forces destroyed 1,200 terrorist targets

Regarding the progress of the war, the Israeli army highlighted in an 8:30 a.m. report that military operations continue by air, land and sea, managing to capture a high command of the Hamas naval force on the beach when he tried to infiltrate the front of a flotilla of terrorists. So far, Israeli aircraft have carried out four waves of attacks, destroying up to 1,200 targets. Regarding the ground war, Hagari reported that soldiers have killed more than 400 terrorist operatives in Gaza and hundreds more in Israeli territory, in addition to detaining dozens alive. In addition, they reported that 300,000 reserves have been mobilized.

Missiles hit Israel again near Ben Gurion airport

As reported by the Times of Israel, missile attacks from Gaza have resumed. According to the military, at least 4,400 rockets have been fired at Israel since the attacks began. In the last few hours, several cities in the center and south have been hit. The impact of several missiles in the vicinity of the Ben Gurion airport was also reported, although no material damage was caused to the facilities, nor were any casualties reported.

Warnings from Egypt

In recent hours, it was reported that Israel possibly received warnings before the attacks that "something big" was going to happen in its territory. As reported by The Times of Israel, an Egyptian intelligence official says that Israel ignored these warnings because it was focused on the situation in the West Bank.

The Egyptian official noted that his country, which often serves as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, had repeatedly warned the Israelis about "something big," though he did not elaborate. "We have warned them an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it would be big. But they underestimated such warnings," the official told the Associated Press in remarks picked up by The Times of Israel.

This Monday, the Prime Minister's Office issued a brief statement denying that Benjamin Netanyahu had held any recent conversations with Egyptian authorities and intelligence officials regarding this matter.

Appeals to the international community

Like other Israeli leaders throughout the day, President Isaac Herzog equated Hamas with ISIS, asserting that the Palestinian group "has imported, adopted and replicated the savagery." He called on nations that have not yet done so to designate Hamas as a terrorist body.

In addition, he asked them to publicly condemn the attacks of recent days and to support Israel "in words and in deeds." He called on the international community to also demand the release of the hostages and make it clear that Hamas is responsible for their welfare.