Netanyahu: Israel in existential struggle against 'Hamas monsters'

As Israel marked Memorial Day on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war in Gaza was a battle for Israel's continuing existence.

"The war is about: it's either us, Israel, or them, the Hamas monsters," he said during the Memorial Day ceremony on Mount Herzl, where Israel's main military cemetery is located.

"Either existence, freedom, security and prosperity or extinction, massacre, rape and subjugation."

Seven months on from Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel and Israel's ferocious military response in Gaza, Netanyahu vowed that Israel was "determined to win this battle" and that the enemy will "continue to pay a high price for its evil deeds."

A victory over Hamas would mean bringing all the hostages home, Netanyahu continued. Such a victory would "secure our existence and our future."

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant struck a similar tone, calling it a "war with no alternative."

"This is a war that will continue until we return our hostages, smash Hamas' rule and its military capabilities, and return the State of Israel to its prosperity and creativity and bring back a smile to citizens' faces," the minister said.

Israel began its military campaign to eliminate Hamas following the unprecedented October 7 attacks on southern Israel when the Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took a further 250 people hostage to the Gaza Strip.

Some 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war so far, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled health authority.

Gallant said one of the aims of the Israeli military campaign was to enable the roughly 250,000 Israeli citizens who had to leave their homes near Gaza and Lebanon to return.

Israel marked its annual Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of the Wars of Israel and Victims of Actions of Terrorism on Monday.

According to the Defence Ministry, more than 25,000 soldiers and and Jewish fighters have been killed in conflict since 1860.

The count begins with the immigration of Jews into what is now Israel, long before the founding of the state in 1948. Sirens sounded for two minutes across the country on Monday morning to commemorate the dead.

Since October 7, more than 700 Israeli security forces have been killed, including 620 soldiers, according to the Defence Ministry.

The figures include both those killed by militants in the October 7 attacks and during the Gaza war.