Benjamin Netanyahu: Our Attack On Gaza Is Just The Start

JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attack on the Gaza Strip was "only the beginning"

"We attack our enemies (Hamas) with unprecedented strength, and I assure you that this is only the beginning. Our enemy has just begun to suffer the consequences," he said in a statement broadcast on Israel's Channel 12 television.

Netanyahu said Israel would end the battle at the right time after Hamas was defeated.

He stressed that Tel Aviv was mobilizing massive international support for the operation and noted estimates of supplies of ammunition and weapons from the United States.

Netanyahu even vowed on more than one occasion to eradicate the Hamas movement since the start of Operation Hurricane Al-Aqsa, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, October 14.

The number of Palestinians killed has risen to 1,799 and 6,612 injured in bomb attacks since Saturday, including 1,644 children and 1,005 women, according to a Ministry of Health source on Friday.

The conflict began when Hamas began Operation Hurricane Al-Aqsa a surprise attack that included a series of rocket launches and infiltration into Israel by land, sea, and air.

Hamas said the operation was retaliation for the invasion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and the increasing violence of Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched an Iron Sword Operation to retaliate against Hamas by targeting the Gaza Strip.

The retaliatory attack extends to cuts in water and electricity supplies to Gaza, which further worsens the condition of life in the region that has been under a crippling blockade since 2007.