ISRAEL is determined to “destroy Hamas’ capabilities” and “make sure they can never, ever again target and butcher our babies in their beds”, a spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has said.

As the Israel-Hamas war rages on, LT Col Peter Lerner told GB News the people of Gaza “are not our enemy” as he urges people to evacuate to the south.

Speaking to Christopher Hope, Lerner said: “The worst case scenario is that people stay in where we plan to conduct our operations, so they should evacuate to the south where there are places where people can take cover for the time being.

“And indeed when we’ve completed operations, we will announce that they will be able to come back to their homes.

“The situation on the ground is one where we are changing the paradigm, when Hamas decided to butcher our babies they broke the rules of the game.”

The total number of Israeli casualties has now reached more than 1,300. Gaza’s health ministry has said that more than 2,300 people have been killed in Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza Strip.

“Hamas needs to pay, they need to be removed, so much so that they need to be banished from the realm of existence,” Lerner added.

“I worry for the children of Israel, I worry for the families who live under that threat of being abducted. I worry for the young men and women who went to have a party in the desert and never found their way home.

“Those are the people I’m in charge of worrying for.

“I would expect the leaders of the Palestinians and Hamas that they take care of their people, that they use their power, like any Palestinian government should use their power to govern, to create an environment that can flourish and can grow.

“And not build tunnels for terror rockets for hate, and special forces for destruction and death – we won’t permit that to be the reality for our civilians.”

He added: “This can never, ever happen again.”