Israel said Tuesday its forces were operating "in the heart of Gaza City" one month after Hamas's bloody October 7 attacks, as the campaign to crush the Palestinian militants intensifies.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a stark warning to Hezbollah in Lebanon which, like Hamas, is backed by Iran.
"If Hezbollah makes the choice of joining the war it will be making the mistake of its life," he said in a televised statement marking a month of the war.
His defence minister, Yoav Gallant, underlined Israel's determination "to destroy Hamas".
"We are in the heart of Gaza City," he told reporters. "Gaza is the largest terrorist base ever built."
Netanyahu also said there would be no fuel delivered to Gaza and no ceasefire in Israel's fighting with Hamas unless the more than 240 hostages seized by the Palestinian militants are freed.
Both men spoke on a day of commemoration in Israel to mark the grim one-month milestone.
Sobs pierced memorial ceremonies and crowds lit candles while mourning the 1,400 dead, including families slain in their homes and young people killed at a music festival, in Israel's worst attack since its 1948 founding.
Israel has vowed to destroy the Islamist militants over their shock attack, launching a campaign in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 10,300 people, mostly civilians, said the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
"There's not one person not impacted by these horrible attacks," said 52-year-old Sharon Balaban, one of thousands of Israelis who attended sorrowful memorial events. "Everyone knows somebody who was hurt, killed, murdered or impacted."
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