Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton says Gaza war is still 'in the very early stages'

• Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian Islamist group launched a surprise terror attack on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people including women and children, and kidnapping more than 200 others.
• Some 130 are presumed to be still in captivity in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.
• More than 32,900 people in Gaza have been killed since Israel launched its land, sea and air attack on the tiny Palestinian enclave, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.
• As long as the current Iranian government is in power, it will continue to be a source of a threat to international peace and security, former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton told CNBC.

Former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton believes Israel's war in Gaza is "still in the very early stages" and says it has been complicated by Iran's involvement.

Framing the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas as "an Iranian war against Israel," Bolton told CNBC's Dan Murphy: "The fact that Iran has not yet been held to account for any of it, suggests that we're still in the very early stages of the war."

Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian Islamist group launched a surprise terror attack on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people including women and children, and kidnapping more than 200 others. Some 130 are presumed to be still in captivity in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.

"This is not a Gaza versus Israel war, or a Palestinian versus Israel war, or an Arab versus Israel war. This is an Iranian war against Israel, fought through terrorist proxies," he told CNBC on Wednesday. Bolton is a noted foreign policy hawk and has previously advocated for regime change by the U.S. in Iran.

On Monday, Iran accused Israel of