Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has shown up for reserve duty following a terror attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

Bennett, who served in office between June 2021 and June 2022, was pictured wearing an IDF military uniform.

It comes after the IDF announced an extensive reserve recruitment due to the assault, which commenced on Saturday morning. 

Sharing a photo purportedly showing the former PM in what appears to be a military warehouse, newspaper Israel Hayom said Bennett was preparing to defend the country.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett has shown up for reserve duty. That’s leadership by example. pic.twitter.com/vpFcfPgKLF

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) October 7, 2023

Another video showed the former Israeli PM shaking hands with IDF soldiers. 

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “was at war" and vowed severe retaliation after the attack.

He added fire would be returned at "a magnitude that the enemy has not known".

Israel's army said its forces were fighting Hamas terrorists on the ground in several locations near the Gaza Strip. It dubbed its operation "Swords of Iron".

IDF spokesman Richard Hecht said the terrorists conducted a combined raid "which happened through paragliders, through the sea and through the ground."

Israeli Major General Ghasan Alyan warned Hamas had "opened the gates of hell" and would "pay for its deeds".