Israeli defense minister says thousands of Hamas radicals entered country

Thousands of radicals from the Palestinian organization Hamas infiltrated Israel during the October 7 attack, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said at a briefing with the defense ministers of NATO countries, Report informs referring to TASS.

“Thousands of terrorists have crossed our southern border, firing thousands of missiles,” he said. The minister’s statements were disseminated by the press service of the Ministry of Defense.

Gallant said that he personally visited border areas that were attacked by militants. During the briefing, the Israeli minister showed his colleagues uncensored footage from the scene, the Ministry of Defense said. “An event of this nature has not happened to the Jewish people since 1945. Over 100 kidnapped, over 1,000 killed, over 3,000 injured, over 5,000 missiles fired and counting,” he said.

At the same time, Gallant emphasized that Israel, after the incident, is determined to completely destroy Hamas. “This is a war for our future. We will change the reality on earth. <...> The Israel Defense Forces will destroy Hamas. <...> This war will be long and difficult, but we will prevail. And despite all the difficulties, we are ready to protect our citizens from any threat,” he concluded.