Israel-Hamas war: Benjamin Netanyahu warns ‘long and difficult war’ ahead, refutes ‘war crimes’ criticism

Israel’s president Benjamin Netanyahu has said its war with Hamas will be “long and difficult” but “we will win”.

In a night time TV address, the PM also said the Israeli army was the “most moral in the world,” following comments from Turkey’s leader that Israel was a “war criminal”.

Hamas has vowed to meet Israeli counter-attacks with “full force” after Israel’s military ramped up its air and ground attacks on Gaza.

Israel had earlier made only brief sorties into Gaza during three weeks of bombardment to root out Hamas militants, who it said had killed 1400 Israelis, mostly civilians, on October 7.

Since then, Hamas claims Israeli bombing in Gaza has killed more than 7000 Palestinians.

The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam brigades, said its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in Gaza’s north eastern town of Beit Hanoun and in the central area of Al-Bureij.

“Al-Qassam Brigades and all Palestinian resistance forces are fully prepared to confront the aggression with full force and thwart the incursions,” it said.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, who reported live from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, described it as “the most difficult and bloodiest night since the beginning of this war” for Palestinians.

Meanwhile efforts continue to free hostages, of which there are more than 200, and put in place at the very least a “humanitarian pause” to let aid supplies into the besieged strip of land.

Read on for the latest updates.

Gaza ‘disconnected from the planet’

An anonymous reporter in Gaza has revealed a snippet of life on the most dangerous streets on the planet, describing the city as “disconnected from the planet” as Israel’s assault continues.

The BBC reported a short voice clip was sent through, with the reporter explaining how a communications blackout has added to the chaos in Gaza.

NetBlocks, an internet monitoring group, has reported a significant decline in connectivity in Gaza, leading to a virtual communication blackout.

Civilians are now unable to contact their friends, family, or emergency services like ambulances to assist the injured. Palestinian Minister of Communications Ishaq Sider said they are is working around the clock on activating international roaming services in Gaza to patch up the communication crisis.

The blackout has created even more confusion amongst Gaza’s population, with many still left in the dark about the fate of their missing loved ones.

‘Long and difficult war’: Netanyahu

In a TV address on Saturday night, local time, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned “this will be a long and difficult war.”

He confirmed troops were in Gaza and said they had entered the “ that stronghold of evil”.

This was Israel’s “second war of independence,” he continued, adding, “We will win. We will prevail.”

“We will fight and we will not surrender. We will not withdraw. Overground and underground.”

Mr Netanyahu also made remarks that appeared to be directed at Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who earlier on Saturday accused Israel of being a “war criminal”.

“Don’t accuse us of war crimes. If you think that you can accuse our soldiers of war crimes that is hypocrisy. We are the most moral army in the world.”

He insisted Israel was taking steps to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza and accused Hamas of using civilians has “human shields”.

Hamas has said around 8000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the conflict began, 40 per cent of who were children.

‘New phase of the war’

Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said on Saturday, local time, that the country had progressed in its actions against Hamas.

“We moved to a new phase in the war,” he said in a statement.

“Tonight, the ground in Gaza shook. We attacked above ground and below ground. We attacked terrorist operatives at all levels, in all places. The instructions to our forces are clear: the operation will continue until a new order is given”.

Most phone and internet connections were cut between Israel and Gaza as the new push took place, late on Friday.

Israeli tanks and troops are now currently around Beit Hanoun, a community in the north of Gaza between Israel’s border and Gaza City itself.

Israel Defence Forces chief of general staff Herzi Halevi confirmed on Saturday that Israeli forces were within the Gaza Strip.

He added that the “best soldiers and commanders” were in Gaza and that it was continuing to “target and eliminate commanders of the Hamas terrorist organisation”.

Northern Gaza now a ‘battlefield’

On Saturday, Israel dropped leaflets into northern Gaza warning the remaining residents to head to the south as the north of the territory was now a “battlefield”.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari earlier said that it was an “urgent plea” to the citizens of northern Gaza and Gaza City to move.

“The window to act is closing,” he said.

Water turned back on in Gaza

At the same time as Israel pummels Gaza it has also turned back on water supplies.

Following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, Israel stopped all water entering the territory from three water pipes that linked it with Gaza.

A key concern of the international community was the lack of water for Gaza residents

It’s now been reported that two of the three water pipelines have been turned back on by Israel.

Water should now be able to reach southern and central Gaza. But the Palestinian Water Authority says Israel’s bombardment and communications blackout may hamper efforts to restore water services to all.

Turkish president calls Israel ‘war criminal’

The president of NATO ally Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has fronted a massive rally in Istanbul where he said he would declare Israel a “war criminal” following the Gaza “massacre”.

“Israel, you are an occupier,” he told the Turkish and Palestinian flag waving sea of supporters.

“Of course, every country has the right to defend itself. But where is the justice in this case? There is no justice — just a vicious massacre happening in Gaza.”

He also said the “main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West”.

Mr Erdogan added he does not consider Hamas as a terrorist organisation which is the classification many western nations, including Australia, have given the group.

Turkey, which is officially secular, was the first Muslim majority country to recognise Israel back in 1949.

But relations have in recent years been testy. Although, last year, Turkey and Israel restored diplomatic relations.

Following the comments by Mr Erdogan, Israel said it would withdraw it diplomats from Ankara while it reassessed its relations with Turkey.

Hamas massacre mastermind killed, says Israel

The Head of Hamas’s aerial array, Issam Abu Rukbeh — who also helped organise the air assault into Israel — was killed overnight in an air strike, the IDF announced.

“Abu Rakaba was responsible for Hamas’ UAVs, drones, paragliders, aerial detection and defence,” the IDF wrote in a post on X.

The IDF claims Abu Rakaba oversaw the planning and execution of the attacks in Southern Israel earlier this month by directing the terrorists on hang gliders, as well as drone attacks on troops since Hamas’s invasion.

‘State of panic’: Israel escalates bombing

The Israeli military said its fighter jets hit 150 “underground targets” in northern Gaza overnight as battles continued to rage on Saturday, local time.

A military statement said the sites hit included “terror tunnels, underground combat spaces and additional underground infrastructure.”

Its statement also said “several Hamas terrorists were killed” naming the head of Hamas’ aerial operations, Asem Abu Rakaba.

The update comes after Israel warned it was “expanding operations” into the besieged area.

On Saturday, a CNN team at an Israeli checkpoint near the Gaza Strip perimeter reported some of the explosions from artillery strikes in northern Gaza were so strong that the impact could be felt physically where they were, about a kilometre from the border.

A senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Regev, told CNN an “expansion” of ground operations in Gaza meant the army was “beefing up the pressure on Hamas.”

He told the US-based network “that pressure will increase and continue to increase until we achieve our goal.”