Netanyahu warns civilians to flee Gaza, as Israeli troops prep for ground assault against Hamas 

 

Israel is set to deploy troops in the streets of Gaza to engage Hamas fighters in their turf. 

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the warning, saying the Israeli army will turn Hamas sites “into rubble”.

“We will turn all the places in which Hamas is based … all the places Hamas is hiding in, acting from, into rubble,” Mr Netanyahu said in a televised address, warning that Palestinians trapped in the besieged area should “leave now” – despite them being unable to do so.

PoliticsNow had reported that Iran’s backed Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack against Israeli settlements across the Gaza strip on Saturday morning, killing more than 300 civilians, wounding hundreds others, and capturing some soldiers. 

Netanyahu vowed that Israel would extract a steep price from Hamas after the Jewish state declared itself to be at war. 

Israel has been bombarding Gaza with  hundreds of relentless retaliatory air strikes against Hamas militants who fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns across the Gaza Strip border in an unprecedented surprise attack on Saturday morning.

But Iran has justified the attack against Israel, saying it is an act of self-defence. 

 

“This operation … is the spontaneous movement of resistance groups and Palestine’s oppressed people in defence of their inalienable rights and their natural reaction to the Zionists’ warmongering and provocative policies,” Iranian state media quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani as saying.