Reuters. Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday (Nov. 1) exhorted his fellow citizens to stand united and steadfast as his country waged a military campaign against Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip, and warned that the enemy sought to "kindle hatred" between the country's Jewish majority and its Arab minority.
"We have to reject every urge toward hatred and racism, toward different groups among us," Herzog said in a national televised address.
Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel retaliated with a near-total siege of the coastal enclave and devastating airstrikes. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 8,500 Palestinians, including more than 3,500 minors, have been killed.
Israeli ground forces supported by air and sea have moved into parts of the Gaza Strip, where they've encountered resistance.
Prior to the Oct. 7 attack, Herzog emerged as the chief proponent of a compromise amid a divisive plan to reform Israel's judicial system that prompted mass protests against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the wake of the Hamas assault, leaders of the opposition joined a national unity government and Herzog on Wednesday called on Israelis to come together in the face what he called a "monstrous enemy."
"The Israeli spirit is an unbreakable spirit, a windstorm, a spirit that rises unbroken from the ashes, and spreads its strength and leaves no one untouched," he said.
