Israel launches third stage of Gaza operation Strikes various Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

The war against the Palestinian radical movement Hamas has entered the third stage.

"The first stage - blocking - is completed. The second stage is the shelling of them from the air, it continues all the time. The third stage is the Israel Defense Forces expanding its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. She is doing this with measured, very powerful steps, achieving methodical, step-by-step progress," Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting, Interfax reports, citing his X account.

The Israeli leader noted: "We are in the midst of a war. We have set ourselves a clear goal to destroy the military and managerial potential of Hamas. We do it systematically."

He said that Israel continues its efforts to free the hostages, and stressed that this campaign will take time.

"There will be pitfalls, there will be difficulties, there will be losses. But I promise you one thing: in the end, Hamas will be defeated. Hamas will be defeated; it will be another Gaza," Netanyahu added.

Meanwhile, the IDF said it used fighter jets to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Israeli warplanes attacked objects belonging to the Hezbollah organization in Lebanon on the night of October 30 to 31.

"Recently, IDF fighters attacked Hezbollah's terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon, including weapons, posts and facilities used by them," the report said.

Moreover, Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in reserve, stated that more than 800,000 Gazans evacuated from the north of the Palestinian enclave.

"We are glad to see that more than 800,000 Palestinians have evacuated from the northern part, where the main combat zone is located," Conricus said during a briefing.

At the beginning of the armed conflict, the IDF demanded that the residents of the Gaza Strip evacuate at least one million residents from the northern part of the Palestinian enclave.

Before that, the WHO unit in Palestine stated that the evacuation of patients from the Gaza Strip was impossible due to the danger to their lives amid the fighting.

On October 13, Israel informed the United Nations that 1.1 mln Palestinians should relocate to the south of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. The Israeli army explained the recommendation saying that Hamas militants were hiding in tunnels under civilian buildings in Gaza. Hamas, however, urged Gaza residents to ignore Israel’s demand, and asked the UN to take measures to prevent people from being forced from their homes.

In the same vein, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal that Israel will not agree to a ceasefire with the radical Palestinian movement Hamas because it would mean surrender.

"Just as the US wouldn’t have agreed to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack on 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of October 7. Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism," he pointed out.

According to Netanyahu, "Iran has formed an axis of terror by arming, training and financing Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and other terror proxies throughout the Middle East and beyond." "In fighting Hamas and the Iranian axis of terror, Israel is fighting the enemies of civilization itself," the Israeli prime minister added.

He called on "civilized nations" to support Israel. "If Hamas and Iran’s axis of evil win, you will be their next target," Netanyahu said.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7. The Palestinian movement described its attack as a response to the actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.