New Delhi: Israel has asked India to declare Hamas as a terror organisation, Israeli ambassador Naor Gilon said on Wednesday.

In an interaction with reporters, Gilon said that Israel had asked Indian authorities to designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation following its terror attack on southern Israel on October 7, which left around 1,200 people dead.

“It is time for India to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation in India,” he said.

Gilon also indicated that this request had also been made earlier to India.

He also thanked India for its “100%” support to Israel in its anti-terror operations against Hamas.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among first world leaders to condemn the terror attack… India is a very important moral voice in the world and the important countries for us are with us,” Gilon said.

“India is solidly supporting us in our counter-terror operations,” he added.

Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza, which has killed over 5,000 people

“For Israel, it is a war to survive in the Middle East,” Gilon was as saying quoted by the news agency PTI, asserting that Israel is determined to destroy Hamas.

He said that Israeli action against Hamas aims to prevent the organisation from repeating the "brutality it has previously perpetrated".

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