Jerusalem, Oct 10 (EFE).- Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Tuesday that the country will launch a “full offense” against the Gaza Strip that will completely change the situation and called Hamas militants “human animals.”

“I have released all the restraints, we have (regained) control of the area, and we are moving to a full offense,” Gallant said at a meeting with Israeli military and elite fighters near the Gaza border.

“You fought with great courage. You have seen what we are fighting: human animals,” the minister said, referring to Hamas militiamen as the “Islamic State” in Gaza.

“You can change the reality here. You have seen the prices (paid) and will see the change. Hamas wanted change in Gaza; it would change 180 degrees from what they thought. They will regret this moment: Gaza will never be what it was,” Gallant vowed.

“It cannot be that Israeli children are murdered in the countryside, and Hamas continues to exist. I have lifted all restrictions: anyone who fights against us will be killed by any means necessary,” the minister insisted.

The death toll from last Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas, the Islamist organization that rules Gaza, on several villages near the Strip exceeds 900 dead and 2,400 wounded, half a thousand of them seriously.

On the Palestinian side, Israeli airstrikes have killed 830 Gazans, many of them civilians, according to Gazan authorities.

In addition, according to the Israeli army, which regained control of the territory this morning, some 1,500 Hamas militiamen were killed during the attack or in the ensuing fighting in Israeli territory.

Residents of the Gaza Strip told EFE that the airstrikes carried out since yesterday are very different from those used in previous conflicts, as they are much more destructive and carried out without the prior warning that was usual in Israeli operations. EFE

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