In a ceremony steeped in symbolism and marked by the memory of October 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his government's commitment to achieving"all the objectives" set since the beginning of the Gaza conflict.
"Israel is committed to bringing back every hostage," Netanyahu said during a state memorial service at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem for Memorial Day. Surrounded by relatives of fallen soldiers, Netanyahu vowed that the country will continue to fight not only Hamas, but also Iran and Tehran-backed groups"that seek the destruction of the country."
“The fight is not over. But one thing is clear today: anyone who raises their hand against us already knows they will pay a heavy price for their aggression,” the prime minister warned. “We are determined to complete the victory that will shape our lives for many years to come.”
Addressing the families of the fallen, Netanyahu said he knew “the magnitude of the suffering” and expressed the Israeli people’s gratitude to “all the soldiers who fought in the war: Jews, Druze, Christians, Muslims, Bedouins, Circassians, and members of other groups.” They fought shoulder to shoulder to achieve all the war’s objectives. And we will indeed achieve all the war’s objectives,” he promised.
The Israeli leader also strongly rejected international accusations that Israel's Gaza offensive is a genocide. Instead, he asserted that the term"more appropriately applies to what Israel was subjected to on October 7."
"That day we received a shocking illustration of the term 'genocide.' I'm not talking about a fictitious genocide, launched against us in anti-Semitic libels by those who wish us harm," he said.
"If those murderers could have done more, they would have massacred us all. This is true genocide."
According to Netanyahu, the Hamas attacks were a warning from the"Iranian regime and its terrorist offshoots," which would seek to "strangle Israel in a deadly circle of fire." Still, he insisted the country responded with unity and determination.
“Our enemies didn't calculate one thing: the power within us. We stood up as one. We shifted the focus of the battle into enemy territory; we dealt devastating blows.”
In that epic tone, the prime minister defined Israel as “the dam against the destructive forces of radical Islam” and praised the troops as “the protective wall that separates us from them… They have done this with supreme heroism, with astonishing ingenuity.”
“From the Valley of Weeping on October 7, we reached Mount Hermon, the skies of Tehran, and the moving embrace of the hostages' families with their loved ones,” he concluded.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led Palestinian militants attacked Israeli communities, a music festival, and military bases, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, Israel has launched a massive offensive on the Gaza Strip, which, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, has left nearly 68,000 Palestinians dead , nearly 1,000 soldiers , and more than 6,000 wounded since the start of the conflict.
