‘Hamas worse than ISIS’, says Israel PM as electricity in Gaza goes out

Israel-Palestine Latest: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the area of the Gaza Division has been declared a closed military zone.

Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on social media platform X that Hamas is worse than ISIS while sharing a picture of the barbaric killings carried out by the terrorist group.

Israel-Palestine Latest: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu(Reuters)

"Hamas is worse than ISIS," the Israeli PM wrote as he shared the post. Sharing the same post on X, the the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, "Only a genocidal terrorist organization is capable of such horrors."

This comes as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the area of the Gaza Division has been declared a closed military zone while the Chief of Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi told reservist officers at the Southern Command base in Beersheba that the defence forces are, at present focusing efforts on targeting the Hamas officials.

"In any area that we know there are Hamas members, Hamas leaders, even if there are restrictions, we strike... accurately and with great power," Herzi Halevi said.

The death toll on the Israeli side has crossed the 1200-mark whereas nearly 1,000 Palestinians have lost their lives since Hamas launched the attack on Saturday.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that he has ordered a "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip. "I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, and no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly," Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel, forcing it to shut down after Israel cut off supplies, the energy ministry said. This means that only generators will power the territory — but they also run on fuel that is in short supply.

Germany also called on Qatar to mediate the release of hostages taken during the surprise attack on Israel.

"Various actors in the region, including Qatar, must play an important role, because they have channels that we do not have," foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told MPs, ahead of a visit by Qatar's emir to Berlin.