Hamas official vows more terror attacks to come; Israel issues worldwide travel warning
Israel has issued a worldwide travel warning for all its citizens as a recording has surfaced of a top Hamas official vowing more terror attacks similar to the deadly Oct. 7 massacre are to come until Israel is defeated.
Government spokesman Eylon Levy announced the travel warning Friday, citing a "disturbing spike in antisemitic hate speech" as the Israel-Hamas war stretched into its second month.
"We are calling on all citizens of Israel to exercise heightened caution when traveling anywhere abroad. ... Citizens planning to travel to countries with specific travel warnings are asked to postpone their visits" to Arab and Middle Eastern countries, the north Caucasus region and all countries bordering Iran.
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In a dramatic move, Levy also called on Israeli citizens to avoid outwardly identifying themselves as such.
"Truly, I cannot believe that we are doing this," he said. "We are asking all citizens to avoid displaying any outward signs of their Israeli or Jewish identity when traveling anywhere in the world."
Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, killed at least 1,400 people and took over 200 people hostage after it crossed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, making it the deadliest attack in the country's 75-year history.
In response, Israeli forces sent ground troops into Gaza last weekend, which launched a ground campaign that the IDF says will target Hamas' military capabilities and help secure the release of hostages.
While no official death toll has been verified, a Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims more than 8,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel's retaliatory airstrikes began.
The travel warning comes as Hamas officials threatened to repeat attacks similar to the Oct. 7 invasion to end "the existence of Israel."
A report from Mideast media watchdog MEMRI-TV showed footage from a Lebanese TV interview in which senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad suggested there could be more attacks from the Islamic terror organization against Israel in the near future.
"We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do this again and again," Hamad told the LBC-TV host during the Oct. 24 segment. "The Al-Aqsa Flood is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth because we have the determination, the resolve, and the capabilities to fight."
While expressing regret for civilian deaths in Gaza, Hamad said, "We did not want to harm civilians, but there were complications on the ground."
After declaring the "occupation must come to an end," Hamad clarified he was speaking not only of the Gaza Strip but "all the Palestinian lands."
"The existence of Israel is illogical," he was quoted as saying. "The existence of Israel is what causes all that pain, blood, and tears. It is Israel, not us. We are the victims of the occupation. Period."
"Therefore, nobody should blame us for the things we do on Oct. 7, Oct. 10, Oct. 1 million — everything we do is justified."
Earlier this week, Hamas released footage of three female Israeli hostages. The three women have been identified as Danielle Aloni, Rimon Kirsht and Lena Trupanov, whom Hamas took hostage following the Oct. 7 attack.
As CBS News reported Monday, the three women featured in the hostage video are seen sitting in chairs as Aloni speaks to the camera, addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas kidnapped Aloni and her daughter while they were visiting family at the kibbutz Nir Oz.
One of the other kidnapped women, Trupanov, was also captured by Hamas at Nir Oz, while the other woman was taken from kibbutz Nirim.
In a Monday statement, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the video as "cruel psychological propaganda by Hamas-ISIS." The office confirmed that it will continue working to return all hostages to their families.
