Israeli soldiers vow to ‘wipe this evil off the face of the earth once and for all’ as they prepare to attack Hamas

ISRAEL’S soldiers vowed to “wipe this evil off the face of the earth once and for all” last night as they prepared to attack Hamas.

It came as it was revealed some of their commanders are pushing to occupy Gaza City for 18 months.

AFPIsraeli troops prepare for a ground invasion of Gaza[/caption]

EPAFamily members mourn at the funeral of festival victim Antonio Macias in the Pardes Chaim cemetery in Kfar Saba, Israel[/caption]

GettyIsraeli tanks move close to the Gaza border ahead of a possible ground incursion[/caption]

The fevered atmosphere hung heavy amid calls for revenge, but tempered by trepidation about the difficult and dangerous days ahead.

Israel, hated by Arab nations on all sides and often reviled over its human rights record, has always seemed capable of keeping control.

But its new crisis government is still reeling from the stunning success of Hamas’ surprise attack just over a week ago, which left 1,400 dead on the Israeli side.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — under pressure from US President Joe Biden — yesterday agreed to restore Gaza’s water supply.

But power remained blacked out and food and medical supplies are running out.

Palestinians in Gaza had resorted to storing bodies in ice cream freezer vans after hospital morgues were overwhelmed.

And UN aid chief Martin Griffiths warned yesterday that the “spectre of death” is hanging over the entire region.

Israel has warned Gaza it is preparing an all-out assault “from the air, land and sea”, with Mr Netanyahu telling front-line soldiers: “The next stage is coming.”

It came after the 24-hour evacuation deadline given to around 1.1million Palestinians passed.

Residents were offered safe passage south by Israel’s Defence Forces until 4pm on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed to have attacked Jal al-Alam, Birkat Risha, Ramya, al-Manara, and al-Abad areas along Lebanon’s Israel border — plus a barracks in the Hanita kibbutz.

And Iran warned of more attacks across the region over Israel’s “aggression” against the Palestinian people.

The embattled nation will now face the sternest test in its history when its boots on the ground detonate a landmine of hate.

Nimrod Novik, an ex-senior diplomat and security advisor to the Israeli Government, said some military and political leaders want Israeli troops to do 18 months of door-to-door arrests in Gaza.

He added: “Others, I think, are far more sober and not talking about demolishing Hamas, but rather depriving Hamas of their ability to threaten us.”

Talking to ordinary Israelis here — from the sophisticated cafes of Jerusalem to the blood-soaked farming communities of the front line — it is clear their famous fighting spirit still burns.

Every Israeli I have spoken to here is raging over last week’s massacres — with fury ramped up further each day by shared social media images which are too graphic to describe.

Just when we thought the Hamas horror stories had peaked, reports surfaced that 40 babies had been murdered — and that several had been burned and beheaded.

Hamas and its supporters issued denials, which only served to heighten anger.

Then Israeli sources offered to show me video evidence.

It was an offer I admit I declined.

I’ve seen many awful sights in more than 30 years as The Sun’s Chief Foreign Correspondent — two Gulf Wars, 9/11, the Paris terror attacks and the Ukraine War.

But as a father-of-three, I could not face looking at nightmare images I could not “un-see.”

The baby story again loomed large when myself and photographer Doug Seeburg ventured to the kibbutz village of Be’eri to hear more accounts of atrocities.

Rescue team commander Col Golan Vach described how he recovered the body of a murdered mum and her beheaded tot in the settlement.

Pointing at the ruins of the house where he made the discovery, the colonel said: “Not only have I seen a baby beheaded by Hamas, I held it in my hands.”

Other stories emerged of mutilation and defiling of corpses as we toured Be’eri for nearly two hours.

Israel wants revenge — and every soldier I spoke to recited virtually the same mantra: “We must wipe this evil off the face of the earth, once and for all.

“Animals who can do these things are subhuman.

“They all must die and all their supporters must die.”

A rabbi I had spoken to earlier in the town of Ashdod went further: “The people of Gaza have forfeited the right to live here.

“There must be no more Gaza.”

But amid the fury, very few Israelis are able to answer the simple question: How can Israel take its revenge without killing thousands of innocent Gazans?

And: Why should even more innocent people die?

Iran-backed Hamas is believed to have spent at least two years planning the bloodbath — complete with paragliding commandos, and highly trained murder squads.

So it follows they would also have planned its aftermath, in the full knowledge Israel would have no option but to deploy its military.

But many analysts fear Israel’s Operation Iron Sword is already playing directly into the hands its cunning enemy.

One defence expert told me: “Hamas cares nothing for its people.

“They are Islamist fanatics and every one who dies is a glorious martyr for the cause.

“They don’t want peace, they want chaos — and a reaction from Israel which will bring the ceiling crashing down on the entire Middle East.”