Israel's defense minister puts troops on alert

Israel's defense minister has placed forces in the Gaza Strip on heightened alert ahead of the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 massacre. Israel Katz's office said there were intelligence reports that Hamas planned to attack Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip that day. If troops were hit, Hamas and the population in the Gaza Strip would "pay a high price - beyond all means."

Katz wrote in a post on Platform X that 4,000 of the terrorists who entered Israel on October 7, 2023 had already been killed - 2,000 remained. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and himself had ordered the military to persecute and kill everyone, it said.

The anniversary of October 7th falls in the hot phase of the election campaign

In the massacre three years ago, around 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. In the war that followed the raid, more than 74,000 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. There has actually been a ceasefire in the Gaza war since October 2025; But there are always fatal attacks.

This year, the anniversary of October 7th falls during the hot phase of the election campaign in Israel: the first parliamentary elections since the massacre will take place on October 27th. According to opinion polls, neither Prime Minister Netanyahu's camp nor his opponents can expect an absolute majority in the groundbreaking election.