DAY OF RECKONING
ISRAEL'S soldiers have vowed to "wipe this evil off the face of the earth once and for all" as they prepare to attack Hamas.
It came as it was revealed some of their commanders are pushing to occupy Gaza City for 18 months.
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The fevered atmosphere hung heavy amid calls for revenge - but tempered by trepidation about the difficult and dangerous days ahead.
Israel, hated by Arab nations on all sides and often reviled over its human rights record, has always seemed capable of keeping control.
But its new crisis government is reeling from the stunning success of Hamas’ surprise attack just over a week ago, which left 1,400 dead on the Israeli side.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — under pressure from US President Joe Biden — yesterday agreed to restore Gaza’s water supply.
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And an Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza is set to reopen for a "limited time" on Monday.
"Rafah will be reopened," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
"We're putting in place with the UN, with Egypt, with Israel, with others, a mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it."
But power remained blacked out and food and medical supplies are running out.
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Palestinians in Gaza had resorted to storing bodies in ice cream freezer vans after hospital morgues were overwhelmed.
And UN aid chief Martin Griffiths warned that the “spectre of death” is hanging over the entire region.
Israel has warned Gaza it is preparing an all-out assault “from the air, land and sea”, with Mr Netanyahu telling front-line soldiers: “The next stage is coming.”
It comes as...
- PM Benjamin Netanyahu vows to ‘exterminate bloody monsters’ as troops surround Gaza
- Nearly 400,000 Israeli troops are gearing up for battle
- Gaza-Egypt border crossing set to reopen for 'limited time'
- Israeli commandos spray Hamas terrorists with machine gun bullets during a high-speed sea battle
- Hamas commanders ‘are training boy soldiers' to battle Israeli forces
- Biden warns it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza
- Fuel reserves at Gaza hospitals expected to last only around 24 more hours
A week after the bloodbath, he said the nation was approaching a "fateful hour".
With nearly 400,000 troops gearing up for battle, he said: "They are ready to take action to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against us to destroy us.
"Hamas thought that we would come apart - we will demolish Hamas."
On Sunday, the Israeli military said its aircraft hit about 250 military targets - killing the Hamas southern district commander.
Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi ordered soldiers near the Gaza border to target "every place, every commander, every operator".
Biden has urged Israel to follow the laws of war - and said "the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas' appalling attacks and are suffering as a result of them".
And when asked if the US could "handle" both Israel and the Ukraine war, he told 60 Minutes: "We're the United States of America for God's sake. The most powerful nation in the history of the world."
It came after the 24-hour evacuation deadline given to around 1.1million Palestinians passed.
Residents were offered safe passage south by Israel’s Defence Forces until 4pm on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed to have attacked Jal al-Alam, Birkat Risha, Ramya, al-Manara, and al-Abad areas along Lebanon’s Israel border — plus a barracks in the Hanita kibbutz.
And Iran warned of more attacks across the region over Israel’s “aggression” against the Palestinian people.
The embattled nation will now face the sternest test in its history when its boots on the ground detonate a landmine of hate.
Nimrod Novik, an ex-senior diplomat and security advisor to the Israeli Government, said some military and political leaders want Israeli troops to do 18 months of door-to-door arrests in Gaza.
He added: “Others, I think, are far more sober and not talking about demolishing Hamas, but rather depriving Hamas of their ability to threaten us.”
Talking to ordinary Israelis here — from the sophisticated cafes of Jerusalem to the blood-soaked farming communities of the front line — it is clear their famous fighting spirit still burns.
Every Israeli I have spoken to here is raging over last week’s massacres — with fury ramped up further each day by shared social media images which are too graphic to describe.
Just when we thought the Hamas horror stories had peaked, reports surfaced that 40 babies had been murdered — and that several had been burned and beheaded.
Hamas and its supporters issued denials, which only served to heighten anger.
Then Israeli sources offered to show me video evidence.
It was an offer I admit I declined.
I’ve seen many awful sights in more than 30 years as The Sun’s Chief Foreign Correspondent — two Gulf Wars, 9/11, the Paris terror attacks and the Ukraine War.
But as a father-of-three, I could not face looking at nightmare images I could not “un-see.”
The baby story again loomed large when myself and photographer Doug Seeburg ventured to the kibbutz village of Be’eri to hear more accounts of atrocities.
Rescue team commander Col Golan Vach described how he recovered the body of a murdered mum and her beheaded tot in the settlement.
Pointing at the ruins of the house where he made the discovery, the colonel said: “Not only have I seen a baby beheaded by Hamas, I held it in my hands.”
Other stories emerged of mutilation and defiling of corpses as we toured Be’eri for nearly two hours.
Israel wants revenge — and every soldier I spoke to recited virtually the same mantra: “We must wipe this evil off the face of the earth, once and for all.
“Animals who can do these things are subhuman.
“They all must die and all their supporters must die.”
A rabbi I had spoken to earlier in the town of Ashdod went further: “The people of Gaza have forfeited the right to live here.
“There must be no more Gaza.”
But amid the fury, very few Israelis are able to answer the simple question: How can Israel take its revenge without killing thousands of innocent Gazans?
And: Why should even more innocent people die?
Iran-backed Hamas is believed to have spent at least two years planning the bloodbath — complete with paragliding commandos, and highly trained murder squads.
So it follows they would also have planned its aftermath, in the full knowledge Israel would have no option but to deploy its military.
But many analysts fear Israel’s Operation Iron Sword is already playing directly into the hands its cunning enemy.
One defence expert told me: “Hamas cares nothing for its people.
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“They are Islamist fanatics and every one who dies is a glorious martyr for the cause.
“They don’t want peace, they want chaos — and a reaction from Israel which will bring the ceiling crashing down on the entire Middle East.”
Cleverly: Hostage Brits among dead
BRITS seized by Hamas in Israel are among those killed in Gaza, the Foreign Secretary said yesterday.
James Cleverly also confirmed around 10 were taken during last Saturday’s cross-border attacks.
He said: “There are British nationals among the dead, the wounded and among those who have been captured.”
Among them were a six-month-old baby and his three-year-old brother.
They were snatched with mum Shiri Silberman-Bibas and her husband Yarden from the Nir Oz kibbutz.
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