Benjamin Netanyahu vows no Hamas rule in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday there would be no Hamas rule in Gaza, speaking at a state memorial event marking three years since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.

Netanyahu spoke at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem during a national day of remembrance. Flags were lowered to half-mast on public buildings from 6:29 am, the time the attack began.

“We have achieved enormous accomplishments, but there are still missions ahead of us, and we intend to complete them,” Netanyahu said. “There will be no Hamas rule in Gaza,” he added, vowing to continue targeting anyone involved in the attack or who held hostages.

The October 7 attack killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also took 251 hostages into Gaza, 44 of them already dead.

Israel's military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 74,200 people, according to the territory's health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. Since a ceasefire was declared last October, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,440 people in Gaza, the ministry says.

Plans for Gaza's post-war governance have begun to take shape, but the issue remains largely unresolved in practice.

Netanyahu also said Israel would keep striking Hezbollah in Lebanon and criticised Iran's clerical leadership. “We will not allow the ayatollah regime in Tehran to threaten our existence,” he said.