Operation Swords of Iron: What happened on days 6-7?

Israel will destroy Hamas, no matter how long it takes, and will finish the war stronger, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an unusual address on Friday night.

"This is just the beginning," he said. "Our enemies have only begun paying the price and I will not say more. This is just the beginning."

Lapid: Netanyahu sent Israel into a frenzy for nothing

Opposition head Yair Lapid attacked Netanyahu for not giving any new information while inducing anxiety among Israelis for an unusual address during Shabbat. 

"How can Israel's prime minister send an entire nation into a frenzy for an unusual Friday night statement only to then say nothing on the hostages, the North, the evacuations," Lapid charged.

"A prime minister should not make these statements unless he has new information."

לא ייתכן שראש ממשלת ישראל יכניס מדינה שלמה לסחרור חרדה בהמתנה להצהרתו בשישי בלילה בזמן של חירום ואז לא יגיד דבר חדש לא על משפחות החטופים, לא על חזית הצפון, לא על המפונים. הצהרות כאלה לא עושה ראש ממשלה אלא אם כן יש לו מידע חדש להביא לעמו ולארצו.

— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) October 13, 2023

During his short address, Netanyahu also stressed that Israel, through talks with US Secretary of State Lloyd Austin, is "ensuring the continuation of fighting" with American supply on its way to Israel.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Thursday that the continuation of crimes against Palestinians will receive a response from "the rest of the axis" and Israel will be responsible for the consequences.

Israel has been pounding Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas rampage in Israel this week that has killed at least 1,300 people, the deadliest attack on civilians in Israeli history. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed.

Iran accuses Israel of war crimes

The Iranian minister said the displacement of Palestinians and cutting water and electricity to the Gaza Strip are considered war crimes.

Members of Qassam Brigades choir attend a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the Hamas movement's founding, in Gaza City December 14, 2022. (credit: Ibrahim Ishaaq/Reuters)

"Some Western officials have questioned if there is an intention to open a new front against the Zionist entity. Of course, in light of the continuation of these circumstances that are war crimes," he said, speaking through a translator, on television upon his arrival in Beirut.

"The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis. And naturally, the Zionist entity and its supporters will be responsible for the consequences of that," Amirabdollahian said.

He did not specify, but the Axis of Resistance refers to an alliance among Iran, Palestinian militant groups, Syria, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and other factions.

A rocket alarm sounded in Netiv HaAssara, located around the vicinity of the Gaza Strip. 

The National Security Council and Foreign Ministry called on Thursday for Israelis around the world to stay vigilant as Hamas calls for an international "Day of Rage" on Friday.

"Against the background of the Swords of Iron war, the Hamas leadership issued a call to all their supporters in the world to hold a 'Day of Rage' this coming Friday (October 13), including a call to go out and harm Israelis and Jews. From this it is likely that there will be protest events in various countries around the world, which may develop into violent events," read the joint statement.

The NSC and Foreign Ministry recommended that all Israelis abroad stay vigilant, stay away from demonstrations, and, if necessary, stay updated with local security forces about possible demonstrations and riots.

Hungary has evacuated a further 65 of its citizens from Israel and they are en route by ship to Cyprus, from where they will be flown back to Hungary, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier this week Hungary had evacuated 325 people including 46 children from Israel by air. It said 15 of the 325 evacuees were foreign citizens.

IDF Air Force Chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar said on Thursday that he has a list of which Hamas officials mastermind and planned the invasion of southern Israel this past Saturday and that they will all disappear.

He said that the IDF was continuing aggressive attacks from the air, having dropped more than 6,000 bombs on Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

“We still have a lot of work until this organization disappears: regarding its infrastructure and its personnel. We have a list of everyone who participated in the abominable crimes against our families, against the Gaza corridor residences, and we will get to all of them,” said the air force chief.

The number of Israeli dead was up to around 1,300, with the number of wounded around 3,000 and more than 100 kidnapped by Hamas.

Palestinian reports said that there were 1,417 dead Palestinians in Gaza and the IDF has said that there were more than 1,000 dead Hamas terrorists within the Gaza corridor from the battles there.

Yahya Sinwar Gaza Strip chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, waves to Palestinians during a rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day), in Gaza, April 14, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)

IDF Chief-of-Staff (Lt.-Gen.) Herzi Halevi on Thursday said that the military will hit Gaza with its full force without stopping in his first live press conference since Hamas' Saturday invasion.

Halevi said that, "we will hit hard and take apart the rulers of Gaza."

The IDF chief said, "whoever is left in charge will understand very well that you do not do such things to the State of Israel."

Next, he said, "this will take time and will require a cool head, but it is good that our cohesion and brotherhood have all come together."

"We will give an eternal blow to our enemies, this is our mission and we are determined to achieve it," he said.

Referring to Hamas Gaza Chief Yahya Sinwar, he said, "This abominable attack was decided on by Yahya Sinwar, the sovereign in Gaza, which makes him and all of his apparatus under him dead men."

Addressing a drop in the public's faith in the IDF to provide security following Hamas' invasion, the IDF chief stated, "We have a [social] contract" to protect Israelis which "has seen ups and downs, and this time we are at a low point and paid a heavy price."

Halevi said, "on Saturday morning, we did not live up to" our responsibility to defend the State.

At the same time, Halevi said the current focus needed to be prosecuting the war forward against Hamas and that he has seen heroic IDF commanders and rank and file soldiers step forward as part of the wave of Israel's comeback against Hamas.

"We will do everything to restore the contract and to return security. As part of this, we will strike deeply into Hamas' capabilities and make a reality in Gaza which will enable more secure lives," for Israelis.

Regarding Hezbollah, Halevi said, "To Hezbollah I say one thing: the IDF is strongly prepared on all fronts, for every scenario. I would not start with us."  

Also, on Thursday there were new media reports about both the IDF and the Shin Bet having some low level warning signs late Friday night that there might be some new action on its way from Gaza.

However, all of the reports indicate that the suspicion was of a minor rocket round or a minor border penetration, such as has happened many times before without becoming a major event.

None of the warnings came anywhere close to knowing or predicting the massive scale of the invasion as it took place.

Earlier Thursday, IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari said that there are significant growing signs of Hamas control over Gaza already starting to falter, six days into the war started by its invasion of Israel's South and five days into overwhelming Israeli counter-airstrikes

Hagari stopped far short of saying it had completely lost control, recognizing that the terror group continues to fire rockets into Israel in significant numbers and continues to initiate small-size attacks on land and by sea.

However, he said that Hamas' high command is much more cut off from those decisions now and that more attacks are being carried out by isolated sub-commanders on the ground who are not necessarily part of a coordinated strategy.

For example, Hagari said Hamas is no longer aware in real time which of its commanders are alive or dead and has a delay in replacing them due to the large numbers of dead commanders occurring on a rolling basis from Israel's counterattack in the South and the constant airstrikes.

Israel to explain Gaza electricity, water cut-off

On the flipside, Hagari said that Israel will likely explain to the world later today what its legal position is on cutting off Gaza's electricity and water.

Already on Wednesday, criticism in many sectors was starting to build that even if the IDF's military counterattacks were justified against Hamas' attackers, cutting off the entire strip, especially from water, was illegal collective punishment.

Although some Israeli officials have said that Gaza could receive humanitarian aid from Egypt, there have also been attacks on the crossings with Egypt.

Despite Hagari’s statement, at press time, no officials had presented Israel’s legal position on the water for Gaza issue.

In addition, the air force's ongoing airstrikes continued across all of Gaza, with some additional focus on Hamas' elite commando unit Nokhba, which led the invasion on Saturday.

The attacks were based on new intelligence that the IDF obtained from interrogating Hamas terrorists who were captured during battles over the Gaza corridor.

Attacks included a variety of Hamas commando operational headquarters which were planning areas for the invasion.

In addition, the IDF killed Mohammed Abu Shamala, a senior Hamas naval commander.

An airstrike hit his home, which the IDF said also was being used to store naval weapons.

The emergency government formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz's National Unity Party was approved by the Knesset on Thursday evening with a vote of 66 for and none against.

A shooting attack was reported near Jerusalem's Old City on Thursday evening, according to initial reports.

This is a developing story.

The US has reached a "quiet understanding" with Qatar not to release the $6 billion in Iranian oil profits due to Iran's reported involvement in Hamas's assault on Israel on Saturday, CBS News reported on Thursday.

The funds in question were transferred from South Korea to Qatar as part of a prisoner swap between Iran and the US in September.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for any country which allows Hamas to operate in their territory to be sanctioned in an address before the Knesset plenum on Thursday evening.

Netanyahu expressed outrage at world leaders meeting with Hamas leaders, stating "No one said we would meet with representatives of Daesh and al-Qaeda [when they attacked], we will give them representation in our country. That's why I told them today there can be no such representation and if there are countries that allow them - throw them out. There are no such countries in the world, those who do not do this should be sanctioned."