Israel-Hamas war latest update: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are preparing for a ground incursion but he won’t reveal when and on what scale it will happen. According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu reiterated “Israel is in a battle for its existence” and vowed to destroy the military and governance capabilities of Hamas.

“We are preparing for a ground incursion. I won’t specify when, how, how many. I also won’t detail the range of considerations, most of which the public is not aware of. And that’s the way it is supposed to be. This is the way, so that we protect our soldiers’ lives,” Netanyahu said in an address to the nation.

The Israeli prime minister said that they are going into this war with two clear goals – eliminating the Palestinian militant group Hamas and safe release of hostages being held in Gaza since the brutal October 7 attack.

“Israel is in the midst of a fight for our existence. The war’s two aims are “to eliminate Hamas by destroying its military and governance capabilities, and to do everything possible to get our hostages back,” he added.

The prime minister, according to the Israeli daily, added that “all Hamas members are dead men walking

PM added, “All Hamas members are dead men walking — above and below ground, inside and outside Gaza” — in a reference to Hamas militants hiding in tunnels and its political leaders who are sitting in Qatar and other countries across the Middle East.

Together with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Minister Benny Gantz, the security cabinet, the chief of staff and heads of the security organizations, Netanyahu asserted, “we are working around the clock in order to achieve the war aims until victory, and doing so without political considerations.”

Speaking about the ground invasion, Netanyahu said the decision on timing of the operation was taken unanimously by the war cabinet of the country’s national unity government.

“The timing of the operation was determined unanimously by the war cabinet and the chief of staff,” he says.

“We will extract the full price from those murderers, those perpetrators of atrocities… from Hamas-Daesh,” in the ground invasion, he says, The Times of Israel reported. He again calls on Gazan noncombatants to head to southern Gaza.

He said the huge pain of the loss of 1,400 people in Hamas onslaught is not forgotten, referring to “our brothers and sisters who were slaughtered in cold blood and who fell in heroic battles” against the predators.

(With inputs form ANI)