Israel defense minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday issued a stern warning to Hamas militants saying that "2023 is not 1943", referring to the mass persecution of Jews under the Nazi regime in Germany, adding that today's Jewish people possess "different capabilities."
"We have been hit hard. Yet make no mistake - 2023 is not 1943. We are the same Jews, but we have different capabilities. The State of Israel is strong. We are united and powerful," he said while addressing his 31 counterparts in a NATO meeting in Brussels, reported Times of Israel.
Gallant also told them of the atrocities committed by Hamas militants against children, women, men, and the elderly, and vowed that Jewish people would not be slaughtered en masse as they were in the Holocaust.
"Hamas is the 'ISIS' of Gaza, a savage organisation, funded and supported by Iran. Hamas is ISIS," he says. "The 'ISIS' of Gaza will not exist, on our borders. The IDF will destroy Hamas. And we will hunt down every last man, with the blood of our children, on his hands," the minister said.
Gallant also showed his counterparts a shocking and horrific "uncensored video of Hamas atrocities" on Israeli civilians. The video had "graphic elements" with "some blurring to protect the dignity of victims", an official in the room said, the report added.
{{/usCountry}}Gallant also showed his counterparts a shocking and horrific "uncensored video of Hamas atrocities" on Israeli civilians. The video had "graphic elements" with "some blurring to protect the dignity of victims", an official in the room said, the report added.
{{/usCountry}}"It was horrific. It brought home to everyone the reality of what happened," one Western diplomat said.
The full scale of the killings has emerged since Israeli forces reclaimed control of the towns and kibbutzes, finding homes strewn with bodies.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said that Hamas brought ISIS flags to Israel when they had infiltrated various parts of South Israel last weekend.
In a post on X, IDF said, "Hamas brought ISIS flags to massacre Israeli children, women and men. Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organisation. Hamas is worse than ISIS."
Gallant also expressed appreciation for the global support for Israel after Hamas launched an attack on the former last week.
Hamas terrorists rampaged through Israel Saturday morning massacring some 1,300 people, the vast majority of them civilians, and abducting at least 150 captives to Gaza.
(With inputs from agencies)