But fighting should continue
Gantz declares Hamas “militarily defeated”
April 10, 2024, 8:59 p.m
Benny Gantz is the Israeli opposition leader. In the Gaza war, however, he supports Prime Minister Netanyahu’s course. Even if Hamas is as good as “defeated,” the fight will last for years, says Gantz in a martial speech – and encourages today’s students to take part in frontline operations in the future.
More than six months after the start of the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Minister Benny Gantz considers the Palestinian Islamist organization to be largely “defeated.” “From a military perspective, Hamas is defeated,” Gantz said in the city of Sderot. “Their fighters have been eliminated or gone underground, their capabilities are limited,” he said. But Israel will “continue to fight against what is left” of Hamas.
Victory will come “step by step,” Gantz said at a meeting of his National Unity Party in Sderot in southern Israel. But Israel still has to prepare for a long war. Israeli forces will have to fight in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip for years to come, Gantz said. Children who are now “in middle school” will “continue to fight in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and on the Lebanon front.”
“We will invade Rafah”
The opposition leader and former army chief and defense minister Gantz joined a national unity government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a minister without portfolio after the worst attack on Israel since its founding. During his appearance in Sderot, he reiterated Netanyahu’s policy regarding a planned offensive in Rafah.
The army will advance again into the southern Gaza Strip, said Gantz. “We will enter Rafah. We will return to Khan Yunis,” he said. “We will operate in Gaza wherever there are terrorist targets.”
According to Israel, the city on the border with Egypt is the last remaining stronghold of the radical Islamic Hamas in the Palestinian territory. Despite international criticism, Israel is sticking to its plans for an offensive. At the weekend, the Israeli army announced its withdrawal from Khan Yunis.
Hamas speaks of more than 33,000 deaths
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by the brutal Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th. According to Israeli figures, at least 1,160 people were killed in the major attack by the Islamist Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the USA, and around 250 were kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip.
In response to the attack, Israel launched a massive military operation in the Gaza Strip, initially primarily in the north of the Palestinian territory, then in the city of Khan Yunis, which is considered a Hamas stronghold. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 33,300 people have been killed so far.
Tensions have also increased in the Israeli-Lebanese border area since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip. There is almost daily shelling there between Israel and Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and allied with Hamas – which has recently fueled fears of an escalation in the region.