Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory on Sunday, claiming that his country’s military has “completely transformed reality” in the year since Hamas’ October 7 attack, which has left the country fighting two wars.
Netanyahu promised troops that Israel “will win” as it battles militants in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and prepares to strike Iran, nearly a year after Palestinian Hamas militants launched an unprecedented onslaught that triggered the Gaza war.
Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, Israel’s army leader, stated that one year later, “we have defeated the military wing of Hamas”.
Despite Netanyahu’s commitment to “crush…and destroy” militants, forces have returned to sites around Gaza where they had previously conducted operations against Hamas, only to find militants regrouping.
In late September, Israel shifted its emphasis north, expanding military operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah, which had been frequently firing rockets across the border from Lebanon in support of Hamas.
“A year ago, we received a devastating blow. “We have completely transformed reality in the last 12 months,” Netanyahu stated during a visit to the Lebanon border, according to his office.
Hamas called the October 7 attack “glorious” and said the Palestinians were “writing a new history with their resistance” on Sunday.
Their strike killed 1,205 people, the majority of them were civilians, according to an AFP calculation based on Israeli official estimates that included captives slain in captivity. Dozens more hostages are still imprisoned.
At least 370 people were killed at a single venue, the Nova rave in the Negev desert, which was memorialized with lights, prayer, and music in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
