Israeli soldiers look at the remains of a police station which was the site of a battle following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 News — Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Monday that Israeli forces regained “full control” of villages that were overrun with Palestinian terrorists since a war erupted on Saturday.

“I ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement shortly after Hagari’s press briefing.

During the press briefing, Hagari added that dozens of terrorists were killed in the clashes and there “may still be terrorists in the area,” but there were no active fighting locations within Israel.

“Breaches that were made in the fence in Gaza is our goal today with the help of aircraft, tanks, and soldiers so that there is no infiltration into Israel,” the IDF spokesperson stated.

“We have evacuated 15 out of 24 settlements near the fence,” Hagari announced, adding that the southern city of Sderot will not be evacuated.

There were “4,400 launches toward the State of Israel,” he added. “In the north, we are fully prepared for any scenario.”

“As for an attack, we moved on to powerful attack waves in a wide air formation that dropped hundreds of tons of explosive material,” the IDF spokesperson disclosed. “We will reach thousands of targets of attacks.”

“We attack terrorists, every gathering area of theirs, every headquarters will be attacked,” he continued.

Furthermore, Hagari highlighted the historical call up of reserve soldiers, saying “we are in a very extensive reserve recruitment; we reached 300,000 reserve soldiers within hours.”

“There is equipment for the IDF,” he said, addressing concerns after the massive call up of manpower went ahead of the logistics that lagged behind, with some units receiving double the expected amount of reserve soldiers, saying some people may be sent home.

“There are no shortages of equipment; there is food for everyone,” Hagari stressed.

“Israel’s biggest terrorist event,” the IDF spokesperson stated, describing what transpired over the weekend.

“Sinwar is the commander of Hamas and one of the targets of the IDF’s countermeasures,” Hagari concluded. “The intensity of the attacks will increase.”