As the war between Israel and Hamas continues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared that the country is currently fighting "a second War of Independence."
“This is our second war of Independence. We will fight to defend our homeland. We will fight and not retreat.", Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz.
As reported by CBN News, Netanyahu was referring to the war in 1948, when Arab armies attacked the Jewish state shortly after Israel declared its rebirth as a nation. Both he and the other Israeli leaders commended the soldiers who went into Gaza and are defending different parts of the country, saying, "Join a chain of heroes of Israel that has continued for 3,000 years," from the time of Joshua to the Yom Kippur War and so forth.
Later in the statement, Netanyahu welcomed assistance from the U.S. and prominent European leaders.
"Our allies in the West and our partners in the Arab world [in the war against 'barbarism'] understand today that if Israel does not win, they will be next in line in the axis of evil's campaign of conquest and murder."
Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 killed more than 1,400 people while 230 were taken hostages.
Last Thursday, Israel Defense Forces released audio footage of a Gazan civilian telling an officer of Military Intelligence Directorate's Unit 504 that Hamas is blocking civilians from fleeing the Northern Gaza Strip despite Israel’s orders to evacuate, The Christian Post reports.
"Hamas continues to use the civilians of Gaza as human shields, not allowing them to evacuate," the IDF stated in its tweet, which included the audio.
LISTEN to an IDF officer in Unit 504 encourage a resident of Gaza to evacuate southward for their safety.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 26, 2023
Hamas continues to use the civilians of Gaza as human shields, not allowing them to evacuate. pic.twitter.com/KTu108FQPg
Last weekend, Israeli ground troops went into Gaza as part of the next phase in the war with Hamas. According to the IDF, the ground campaign is meant to target Hamas' military capabilities and seek to secure the release of its hostages.
So, The United Nations confirmed that approximately 1.4 million out of a population of about 2.3 million Gazans have evacuated. An estimated 700,000 Palestinians have responded to the order while around 350,000 remained in Northern Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Alexi J. Rosenfeld / Stringer
Video Courtesy: Associated Press via YouTube
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
