IDF on high alert since Saturday to restore safety, security in Israel: Retired IDF Lieutenant Colonel

Jerusalem [Israel], October 11 : Retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner has said the IDF has been on a state of high alert since Saturday in order to restore safety, security to the country and to embark on an operation to degrade and destroy Hamas's capabilities to attack the country.
"The IDF since Saturday has been in a state of alert, of high alert in order to restore safety, security to the state of Israel, and as instructed by the government to embark on an operation to degrade and destroy Hamas's capabilities to attack the country," Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said on the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
He said the operations that are currently underway and have been since Saturday are comprised of three core components. First of all, the defence in Israeli territory. Those components include ensuring that the barrier that the Hamas terrorists breached is secured and closed.
"Secondly, we are still in a situation where we believe there is still a possibility that there are terrorists in Israeli territory. So we are operating in order to secure Israeli territory. There could be terrorists hiding in bushes or in a cupboard. And finally, evacuation of people from the front line so that they no longer need to be in distress," he said.
"And we have evacuated, indeed, most of the people who wanted to be evacuated from the front lines of the border with Gaza. The second component, obviously, is the offensive activities that are currently underway. The mission is to destroy Hamas's capabilities so that they can never inflict this damage on Israel again..." he added.
Meanwhile, as per The Times of Israel, several aircraft may have infiltrated Israeli airspace from Lebanon.
As a result, residents across northern Israel are being told to shelter in reinforced rooms and wait there.
A reporter on Israeli TV said explosions were being heard, and something struck the ground in the border town of Metula, with no injuries.
A suspected terrorist infiltration alert was heard in Israel's northern town of Ma'ayan Baruch, close to the border with Lebanon.
Footage on Channel 12 news appears to show a drone moving across the sky.
Sirens were heard in the towns of Ofer and Kerem Maharal, south of Haifa, with Hamas claiming to have shot rockets in that area.
Sirens were heard in every town and city in the north, including the Golan Heights.
Early reports suggest dozens of drones were launched from Lebanon at Israel.
The military says it is looking into the details.
The head of the Galil Elyon Regional Council, Giora Zaltz, tells Channel 12 news some of the aircraft that infiltrated from Lebanon are carrying people, and residents need to seek shelter, as per The Times of Israel.
"This is what we feared, what we were preparing for," he says.
Meanwhile, UK's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was on Wednesday forced to run for cover amid rocket fire during a visit to southern Israel, Sky News reported.
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation.
A video showed James Cleverly and a group running into a building as air sirens blared in Ofakim.
Cleverly was seen running towards the entrance at the start of the clip. The Israeli foreign ministry said the siren was warning citizens of incoming Hamas rocket fire.
The UK Foreign Secretary arrived in Israel this morning as part of a trip to "demonstrate the UK's unwavering solidarity" with the country, a foreign office spokesman said earlier today.
Cleverly on Wednesday said the UK stands with Israel. "I'm here in Israel today to show that the UK's support for the Israeli people is unwavering," he wrote on 'X'.
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus on Wednesday said that 1200 Israelis were killed and more than 2,700 wounded and emphasised that the Israeli soldiers are ready to execute the mission in Gaza.
"Four days after Hamas breached into Israel, attacked Israeli communities, murdered and massacred Israeli citizens and took dozens of Israeli hostages into Gaza. The death toll is staggering, a 1200 dead Israelis. The overwhelming majority of them civilians and more than 2700 wounded and sadly something tells me that these are not final numbers," he said.
The IDF spokesperson said that about 300000 soldiers had been deployed at the Gaza border and claimed that they would ensure that Hamas would not have any military capabilities at the end of the war.