The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned this Tuesday that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) could try to carry out an attack before the elections on October 27 in order to "influence" the legislative elections, in which the leader seeks to reaffirm his mandate.
"Because Hamas is very weak, it will try to challenge us with what remains of its forces before the elections in an attempt to influence them," he noted at the beginning of a government meeting. "We are prepared for it. Above all, we will prevent these attempts and, in any case, we will respond with overwhelming force if they make that mistake," he added.
Netanyahu emphasized that Israel "has turned the situation around" after the attacks on October 7, 2023, and defended that now "it is the strongest country in the Middle East." "Our enemies are weaker than ever," he stated, according to a statement released by his office on social media.
"I say to all our enemies: look at what we have done on seven fronts --a term he uses to refer to the threats against Israel from the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Iraq-- in the War of Renaissance," he emphasized. "Do not play with us," he insisted.
The Prime Minister recalled the victims of the attacks on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent clashes in the region and reiterated that "over the last three years, 4,000 of the 6,000 monsters" who participated in those aggressions, led by Hamas, have been eradicated. "None of them have immunity. We will reach all of them and Hamas's control over Gaza will be eradicated," he stressed.
These statements come after Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the Army to "prepare for any scenario" in the Gaza Strip in light of the possibility of new actions by Hamas, on the eve of the third anniversary of the attacks on October 7, 2023, which triggered the large-scale Israeli offensive on the enclave.
Katz has emphasized "the need to prepare for the worst possible scenarios and to respond with great force to any intelligence data or warning to prevent any threat," something that "adds to the intense operations already underway." "If our forces suffer any harm, Hamas and the population of Gaza will pay a high price, a disproportionate one," he warned.
In October 2025, Israel and Hamas agreed to implement the United States' proposal for the future of Gaza, which included a ceasefire during which attacks on the enclave have continued, with 1,460 Palestinians dead since then in the Strip, according to Gazan authorities.