This was the first significant remarks that came from Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu since Hamas launched what has been described as an “unprecedented attack on Israel”.

Hamas-Israel War: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday morning while addressing his country said “We are at war”! This was the first significant remarks that came from Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu since Hamas launched what has been described as an “unprecedented attack on Israel”. “We are at war, Our enemy will pay the price,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a series of rocket attacks in which it is being claimed that about 5,000 rockets were fired simultaneously inside the Israeli territories from Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video on X on Saturday in which he said, “Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not an operation not an escalation- at war.

“We are at war and we will win. Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known,” he said further.

Earlier, Israel on Saturday morning declared a “state of readiness for war” in one the biggest escalations in recent times amid a massive barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip and infiltration into its southern area. At least one person was killed and 16 injured.

Islamic faction Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, claimed it had launched 5,000 rockets at Israel in an early morning barrage called, “Operation al-Aqsa Flood”.

According to the latest reports, at least 5 people have been killed and over 100 injured in the Hamas rocket fire. The centre and south of Israel came under heavy rocket fire for over 3.5 hours on Saturday morning, The Times of Israel reported.

“Israel is in an emergency” and Lapid would back a “harsh military response” to Hamas’s coordinated attack, a statement from the Opposition’s leader’s office said.

Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant approved the draft of reserve soldiers in accordance with the Israel Defence Force’s requirements. Gallant, following an operational situation assessment Saturday morning warned that “the Hamas has made a grave mistake this morning and launched a war against the State of Israel. IDF troops are fighting against the enemy at every location. I call on all of Israel’s citizens to follow security instructions.

“The State of Israel will win this war,”, he said adding that a “special security situation” in Israel’s Homefront, within a 0-80 km radius of the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post reported, adding that this further enabled the IDF to provide civilians with safety instructions at “close and relevant sites”.

After the rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip, Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel from the south even as red alert warning sirens were activated in Tel Aviv, located around 70 kilometres from the Gaza Strip, as well as, Sde Boker, Arad, and Dimona in the south.

The Head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in a statement, said “We warned the enemy not to continue its aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque”, Ha’aretz online reported.

“This is only the first stage” of Hamas’ renewed efforts against Israel, he said as he urged Arabs in Jerusalem and inside Israel, in the Negev, the Galilee and northern Israel to join the “revolution” and “set the earth on fire under the feet of the occupiers”.

Deif also called upon the “Islamic resistance in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria to “merge their resistance with that of the Palestinians” and “start marching towards Palestine now”.

(With agency inputs)