Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'

JERUSALEM, Undefined — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to achieve victory and said his country's military "completely transformed reality" in the year since Hamas's October 7 attack, which has left the country fighting two wars.

Netanyahu told troops Israel "will win" as it battles militants in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and prepares to strike Iran, almost a year since the unprecedented attack by Palestinian Hamas militants sparked the Gaza war.

Israel's army chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said that, one year on, "we have defeated the military wing of Hamas".

Netanyahu had pledged to "crush... and destroy" the militants as fighting began last October, but troops have returned to several areas across Gaza where they had previously conducted operations against Hamas, only to find militants regrouping.

In late September Israel turned its focus north, intensifying military action against Iran-backed Hezbollah, which had been routinely sending rockets over the border from Lebanon in support of Hamas.

"A year ago, we suffered a terrible blow. Over the past 12 months, we have completely transformed reality," Netanyahu said during a visit to the Lebanon border, according to his office.

Hamas on Sunday called the October 7 attack "glorious" and said the Palestinians were "writing a new history with their resistance".

Their attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity. Dozens of other hostages are still held.

At last 370 people were killed at one location alone, the Nova rave in the Negev desert, which was commemorated with candles, prayer and music in Tel Aviv on Sunday.

In northern Gaza, the military said it had encircled the Jabaliya area after indications Hamas was rebuilding there despite a year of air strikes and fighting.

Rescuers said 17 people, including nine children, had been killed on Sunday by Israeli air strikes on the area.

Israel's military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 41,870 people, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry