"Are you ready for the next stage?" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked soldiers on Saturday. "The next stage is coming."
'Next stage is coming,' Netanyahu tells IDF on visit to southern Israel https://t.co/VZMgMrEGOz | @MaayanJaffe pic.twitter.com/X51NJgZcFq
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) October 14, 2023
The prime minister toured Kibbutz Be'eri and Kfar Aza in southern Israel on Saturday - two sites that experienced high rates of murder and trauma. Netanyahu met with soldiers and walked through the ruins of the houses in the communities that suffered in the terrible attack last week, his office shared.
'We will destroy Hamas'
On Friday night, Netanyahu interrupted people's Shabbat dinners to address the nation with a similar message. He told the country at 9:30 p.m. on Friday on live TV that Israel will destroy Hamas, no matter how long it takes.
"This is just the beginning," he said. "Our enemies have only begun paying the price, and I will not say more. This is just the beginning."
Israel has already struck more than 1,000 Hamas targets in Gaza, the IDF confirmed Saturday morning. It has also assassinated some of its top terrorists responsible for Friday's attack that murdered 1,300 Israelis.