Benjamin Netanyahu vows to ‘save our country’ as Israel battles ‘barbarians’ in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “save our country” Saturday in his first press conference since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack — casting the war in Gaza as an existential fight against “barbarians” for survival of the Jewish state.

“A state has two possibilities: to be or not to be,” he said. “This is our test, and we are going to win it … this is the mission of my life.”

“Our commanders and soldiers fighting in enemy territory know that the nation and the national leadership stand behind them,” he said — without declaring outright that Israeli ground forces had invaded.

His comments came as Israel Defense Forces continued what it called “expanded ground activity” within the Gaza Strip.

Israel is “ready to make sure that the murderers are going to pay the price for the massacre,” Netanyahu promised, hours after he held his first meeting with the families of some of the 220 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.

“Our calls are very clear,” he said. “To destroy the military and government ability of Hamas and return the victims home.”

Relatives of abducted children were among those at the Saturday evening meeting, ABC News reported.

“We are fighting a war against barbarians,” Netanyahu said of Hamas. “We have to win … because it’s our existence, but it’s affecting all of the western civilization.”

But he admitted that the terrorists’ Oct. 7 attack was a “terrible failure” on the part of Israel’s security and intelligence forces.

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“There was a terrible failure,” Netanyahu said in response to a reporter’s question. “It’s going to be investigated. We’re going to turn each stone,”

Israel, which sent troops into the Gaza Strip for the first time on Friday, has conducted extensive airstrikes against Hamas targets there over the past two weeks.

The Israeli military on Saturday reissued its call for Palestinians to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip amid Israel’s ongoing military operation

“For your immediate safety, we urge all residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to temporarily relocate south,” spokesman Daniel Hagari said. “The impending IDF operation is set to neutralize the threat of Hamas with precision and intensity.”