Israel

Statements by Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant say the war could last for months. Currently, Israel has deployed a large military force near the Gaza Strip, which is being bombarded with artillery and Israeli Air Force bombers. But Israel is expected to send its army into the Gaza Strip at some point to defeat Hamas, and it could be a protracted war, Gallant told the Times of Israel at the Israeli Air Force command centre in Tel Aviv that it could take three months to defeat Hamas.
    “This will be the last ground manoeuvre in the Gaza Strip. This is for the simple reason that afterwards there will be no Hamas. It may take a month, two months, three months, but in the end there will be no Hamas,” the defence minister said. Israel says it has now intensified its bombardment of Hamas. The civilian population is once again being urged to head to the southern part of the Gaza Strip in order to escape the bombardment and impending hostilities in the north of Gaza. “Before the enemy encounters armour and infantry, the enemy will meet Air Force bombs,” Gallant says. /ritzau/