Top world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have strongly condemned Saturday’s horrific terrorist attacks against Israel and expressed full solidarity with the victims, their families and the government led by the country’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israelis woke up to sirens as the designated Islamist terrorist group Hamas launched a barrage of rockets at them from Gaza Saturday morning.
It was followed by armed terrorists moving into the Israeli territory, trying to slaughter and capture innocent civilians – several videos of which have now gone viral on social media.
As the entire world watched in shock, the unprecedented military attack prompted Netanyahu to declare a state of emergency, urging citizens that the country was “at war”.
Israel is at war.
Earlier this morning armed Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israeli communities and started going house to house and murdering innocent Israelis.
Some of the images are so disturbing we cannot even share them.
We will take every measure to protect our citizens… pic.twitter.com/RRk6RheyL2
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 7, 2023
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have now launched a large-scale operation ‘Swords of Iron’ to defend the country against the combined attack launched by Hamas.
As the violence escalated, several world leaders said that they stand firmly in solidarity with Israel and in support of its right to self-defence.
“Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour,” tweeted PM Modi.
Embassy of India in Tel Aviv has also issued an advisory for the Indian nationals in Israel, asking them to remain vigilant and observe safety protocols as advised by the local authorities in view of the current situation.
“Please exercise caution, avoid unnecessary movement and stay close to safety shelters,” the embassy said in a statement.
Admitting that the situation is “not simple” as the country is under a combined attack – both by rockets and ground infiltration of Hamas terrorists – Israel’s Ambassador to New Delhi Naor Gilon appreciated India’s moral support assuring that his country “will prevail”.
#WATCH | Ambassador of Israel to India, Naor Gilon says, “Early this morning, when Israeli citizens were still in their beds. Hamas, the terror organization from Gaza, perpetrated a dual attack, both rockets towards Israeli civilians and ground attacks by terrorists against… pic.twitter.com/pf7iRo6kkN
— ANI (@ANI) October 7, 2023
Meanwhile, Netanyahu chaired an emergency meeting of his security cabinet Saturday evening listing three immediate objectives of his government.
First, he said, was to clear out the hostile forces that have infiltrated Israel’s territory and restore the security and quiet to the communities that have been attacked.
The second objective he listed was to exact an “immense price from the enemy within the Gaza Strip” as well.
And, the third was to “reinforce other fronts” so that “nobody should mistakenly” join the war.
“We are at war. In war, one needs to be level-headed. I call on all citizens of Israel to unite in order to achieve our highest goal – victory in the war,” said the Israeli PM.
Insisting that the “enemy will pay an unprecedented price”, the Israeli leader said that he has ordered an extensive mobilization of reserves so that “we return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known”.
