Israel puts military on high alert for October 7 anniversary, warns Gazans will pay 'heavy price'
Defence Minister Israel Katz put the IDF on high alert on Tuesday ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks, citing intelligence on Hamas intentions and warning of a disproportionate response if Israeli forces are harmed.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz has put the country’s military on high alert ahead of the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, warning that Gazans would pay a “heavy price” if Israeli forces are harmed.
Katz’s office said the instruction was issued on Tuesday “in light of intelligence regarding Hamas’s intentions to attempt to carry out attacks and terror operations against our forces in Gaza on that day”. “If, heaven forbid, our forces are harmed, the ones who will pay the heavy price will be Hamas and the population of Gaza — beyond all proportion,” the statement added, according to The Hindu.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Katz on a visit to Kissufim on the Gaza border alongside the head of the IDF Southern Command, ABP Live reported. Shin Bet Director David Zini had warned the Security Cabinet on Monday that Hamas was planning to kidnap Israeli soldiers, according to a Jerusalem Post report cited by ABP.
On Monday, during a state ceremony marking three years since the attack, Netanyahu said there would be “no Hamas rule in Gaza” and vowed to keep targeting anyone involved in the attack or holding hostages.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures; militants took 251 hostages into Gaza, 44 of them now dead. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 74,200 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, with more than 1,440 killed since a ceasefire was declared last October.
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