An expanded emergency cabinet meeting was held in Israel convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time on Sunday. He said that the display of national unity sent a message to home and abroad as the country is set on eradicating Hamas.PM Netanyahu in first emergency cabinet meetThe meeting was held at the headquarters of the Israel Defence Forces in Tel Aviv. A video released by Netanyahus office showed that the conference began with the ministers standing in silence for a moment in memory of the 1300 Israelis killed in the deadliest attack by Hamas on Israeli soil since its formation in 1987.בישיבת ממשלת החירום. אנחנו נפרק את החמאס. pic.twitter.com/p7GxXIKS9a— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 15, 2023 The meeting was joined by former opposition lawmaker Benny Gantz who along with several members of his party joined the government last week. Welcoming the lawmaker, Netanyahu said all ministers were “working around the clock, with a united front”.“Hamas thought we would be demolished. It is we who will demolish Hamas,” PM Netanyahu said while adding that the show of unity “sends a clear message to the nation, the enemy, and the world”IDF asks Gaza residents to evacuateMeanwhile, the Israel Defence (IDF) Forces have given a time period of three hours to move from North Gaza to the southern part of the territory saying that a safe corridor will be open during this time. In a post on X, the IDF said they will not launch any operation on this corridor from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.“Residents of Gaza City and northern Gaza, in the past days, weve urged you to relocate to the southern area for your safety. We want to inform you that the IDF will not carry out any operations along this route from 10 pm to 1 pm,” the Israeli military said.Israel-Hamas conflictHamas launched a surprise attack on Israel by firing thousands of rockets towards Israel on Saturday, October 7. Following this Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a full-fledged war against Hamas.The Hamas gunmen have claimed the lives of more than 1300 Israelis while more than 2300 Gaza residents lost their lives in the retaliatory air strikes by Israel. The countrys military has also carried out a series of ground attacks on Gaza and is now readying for a looming Gaza ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas.
