NEW YORK, October31. /TASS/. Israel will not agree to a ceasefire with the radical Palestinian movement Hamas because it would mean surrender, the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal.

"Just as the US wouldn’t have agreed to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack on 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of October 7. Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism," he pointed out.

According to Netanyahu, "Iran has formed an axis of terror by arming, training and financing Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and other terror proxies throughout the Middle East and beyond." "In fighting Hamas and the Iranian axis of terror, Israel is fighting the enemies of civilization itself," the Israeli prime minister added.

He called on "civilized nations" to support Israel. "If Hamas and Iran’s axis of evil win, you will be their next target," Netanyahu said.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking people, including women, children and the elderly, hostage. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and launched ground operations in the enclave, also carrying out air strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.