Hamas not letting people leave cities, using them as shield: Israel Foreign Ministry

Tel Aviv [Israel], October 14 : Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Lior Haiat said on Saturday that Hamas is using the civilian population of Gaza as a shield to protect themselves and is targeting Israel from the densely populated areas.
"Unfortunately, Hamas uses its own population as a human shield and the responsibility for that lies on Hamas. There is no doubt about it that Hamas is responsible for the people of Gaza. They are not letting them leave the cities. They are hiding behind them. They are shooting from population areas. Over the last week, there were over 5,000 rockets that were shot from the Gaza street towards the Israeli civilian population," he said.
In a press conference held virtually, Israel's MFA said that the country is using all its technology capabilities to prevent any civilian casualties and just target the Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Haiat said, "There is no other country in the world that does the efforts that Israel has made in the past and in this operation in order to prevent civilian casualties. We are doing anything in our power with the highest technology in order to only hit the terrorists and the terrorist infrastructure of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip."
He also went on to mention the debate on Israel hurting civilians in action against Hamas and said that there is no way of a "proportionate" reaction against the atrocities of Hamas in war.
"Israel army works and operates under the international law. As I said, there is no other country in the world that uses so much technology in order to prevent civilian casualties. We've heard, and unfortunately, in the last few days, in the numerous interviews that I gave talks about proportionality, I have to tell you, this word means nothing in a war against Hamas. What's the proportionate response to a baby that was tied up, massacred, and then burned to death?" he said.
He said further, "What is the proportionate response to over 1,300 Israel casualties, most of them civilians? How do you react in a proportionate way to people who came to a music festival and were butchered in the forest? Next to that, they only came to celebrate peace, music, and life. There is no word like proportionate reaction when you deal with Hamas. Hamas is an ISIS-like terror organization, and the only way to win this war is to have them pay a huge price and to change the reality that Hamas will be able to attack Israelis ever again."
Israeli spokesperson reaffirmed that the aim of the war is to eliminate Hamas from the Gaza Strip and emphasised that the people of Gaza are not the "enemy" of Israel.
Haiat stated, "As I said in the beginning, our goal is to end Hamas control over the Gaza Strip. This is the end goal of this war. We are looking for a reality where people in Israel can live side by side with the people of Gaza. The civilians in Gaza are not our enemy. And we'll repeat it. The civilians in Gaza are not our enemy. We have left the Gaza Strip till the last centimeter."
He said further, "There is not a geographical conflict between Israel and the Palestinians over the Gaza Strip. We left the Gaza Strip over 18 years ago and since then over 100,000 rockets and missiles have been shot from the Gaza Strip on Israel. This reality cannot stay. We'll have to do whatever is in our power in order to change this reality and to have the Gaza Strip controlled by another organization that is not a terror organization."
Meanwhile, as the Israel-Palestine conflict enters its eighth day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it is completing preparations for a "significant ground operation" in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.
The IDF statement says it is readying to "expand the offensive" by implementing a "wide range of offensive operational plans" which it says include a "joint and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land."
The military is expected to launch a ground invasion in the Gaza Strip, but its extent and when it is carried out may be affected by operational considerations, as tensions grow on the northern border.