'Next stage is coming...enemy has just started to pay the price': Israeli PM Netanyahu tells soldiers outside Gaza

In the visuals shared on X, the Israeli leader could be heard telling them: "You ready for the next stage? The next stage is coming."

Benjamin Netanyahu met with Israeli infantrymen stationed outside the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Demonstrating resolve regarding Israel's 'Operation Iron Swords' in response to Hamas' 'Operation Al Aqsa Flood Battle', in the video soldiers can be seen nodding in agreement as the Israeli PM shook hands with them.

Israel retaliated to the surprise attacks by the Hamas Group on October 7 with extensive ground and air military actions in Gaza.

The intense conflict between the two sides has resulted in approximately 3,200 casualties.

Shortly after Hamas militants launched a barrage of rockets towards southern Israel last weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a "state of war" and pledged to respond with maximum force.

Since then, authorities in Gaza have reported over 1,900 Palestinian casualties.

A spokesperson from the UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) stated on Saturday that as many as 700 children have lost their lives in the Gaza Strip since the conflict erupted last weekend.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has shown signs of possible escalation, with Israeli forces distributing numerous leaflets and flyers throughout the Gaza Strip, telling residents to evacuate the war zone "for their own safety." In contrast, the Hamas Group has advised them to stay put.

The Israeli Prime Minister in his video address to the nation vowed to raze Hamas and said Hamas was ISIS. "We will eliminate Hamas, we will defeat Hamas. It will take time," Benjamin Netanyahu said.

As the war entered Day 7, Netanyahu earlier today said that Israel’s enemies had just "begun to pay the price".

"But I won't go into detail," he said while asserting that the IDF soldiers had been fighting like "lions".