Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the looming ground assault on the terrorist group Hamas. During these meetings, Netanyahu emphasized the need to defeat what he described as "barbarism."

Netanyahu stated, "We have to defeat this barbarism," and framed the conflict as a battle between the forces of civilization and "really monstrous barbarians who murdered, mutilated, raped, beheaded, and burned innocent people, babies, and grandmothers." He underscored that this is a test of civilization and expressed confidence in victory. Netanyahu also called on countries that previously fought ISIS to stand up against Hamas, which he referred to as the "new ISIS."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed Italy's support for Israel and emphasized the importance of defending Israel's right to protect its people against terrorism. She stated, "We defend the rights of Israel of defending itself… for its people. We absolutely understand that terrorism has to be fought, and we believe that you are able to do that in the best way, and we are different from those terrorists."

Netanyahu later met with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, reiterating the theme of a "battle of civilization against barbarism." He described the atrocities committed by Hamas in Gaza as savagery and the worst seen against Jewish people since the Holocaust. Netanyahu emphasized that the battle against Hamas is a fight for civilization against barbarism.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office invoked his previous address at the UN, during which he compared Hamas to ISIS, stating, "Hamas is ISIS... People didn't believe me. Now they know it's actually worse than ISIS." He mentioned that world leaders like President Biden and Chancellor Scholz have characterized Hamas as the "new Nazis" and called on the civilized world to unite in defeating this common enemy.

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