Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening released the following statement: “Hamas is responsible for this war. It invaded our towns, murdered our people, raped our women and kidnapped our loved ones. Hamas refused offer after offer to release our hostages. In the past two weeks, Israel did not initiate any military action in the hope that Hamas would change course. Well, that didn’t happen. While Israel accepted the offer of President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, Hamas flatly refused to do so. This is why I authorized yesterday the renewal of military action against Hamas. Israel does not target Palestinian civilians. We target Hamas terrorists. And when these terrorists embed themselves in civilian areas, when they use civilians as human shields, they are the ones who are responsible for all unintended casualties. Palestinian civilians should avoid any contact with Hamas terrorists, and I call on the people of Gaza, get out of harm’s way. Move to safer areas. Because every civilian casualty is a tragedy and every civilian casualty is the fault of Hamas. I thank President Trump for his unwavering support for Israel. Our alliance with the United States has never been stronger. To those who criticize Israel, I ask, what would you do if terrorists murdered and kidnapped your children? You would do what we are doing. In the face of pure evil, free societies have no choice but to fight. So, I want to assure all our friends around the world, Israel will fight and Israel will win. We will bring our people home and we will destroy Hamas. We will not relent until we achieve all these vital goals and we will not rest until we give our country a future of peace, prosperity and hope.”