Photo taken on Oct. 11, 2023 shows a building damaged in rocket
attacks from Gaza, in Ashkelon, Israel. [Ilan Assayag/JINI via Xinhua]
Israel's new wartime cabinet vowed on Wednesday to continue the military operation in the Gaza Strip until "Hamas is toppled and destroyed."
It was the first statement by the new emergency unity government, which was formed earlier on Wednesday as Benny Gantz, an opposition leader and former defense minister of Israel, joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ultranationalist-religious coalition government.
In an address broadcast to the nation, Gantz vowed to deal "decisively" with Hamas.
"We will smash and destroy Hamas," Netanyahu said.
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday launched a surprise attack on southern Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza.
As of Wednesday, more than 2,000 people have been killed and thousands of others injured on both sides.
