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The Israeli prime minister additionally predicts the conflict in Gaza and on different regional fronts would final many months.
The border zone between the Gaza Strip and Egypt must be underneath Israel’s management, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has mentioned, as he predicted the conflict within the Palestinian enclave and on different regional fronts would final many months.
As Israel entered the thirteenth week of its conflict in Gaza on Saturday, Netanyahu held a information convention the place he renewed his promise to remove Hamas and convey dwelling all Israelis held captive in Gaza.
“The Philadelphi Corridor – or to put it more correctly, the southern stoppage point [of Gaza] – must be in our hands. It must be shut. It is clear that any other arrangement would not ensure the demilitarisation that we seek,” he mentioned.
Israel has mentioned it intends to destroy Hamas in Gaza and demilitarise the territory to stop any repeat of the October 7 cross-border killing and kidnapping spree by the armed group.
“The war is at its height. We are fighting on all of the fronts. Achieving victory will require time. As the [Israeli army] chief of staff has said, the war will continue for many more months,” Netanyahu mentioned.
He additionally added a uncommon risk to assault Iran instantly over the near-daily exchanges of fireplace throughout the Israel-Lebanon border.
“If [the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group] Hezbollah expands the warfare, it will suffer blows that it has not dreamed of – and so too Iran,” Netanyahu mentioned with out elaborating.
The conflict has triggered fears of a regional conflagration amid rising tensions with different Iranian-aligned teams in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Israel’s relentless bombing and floor offensive on Gaza since October 7 has killed at the very least 21,672 individuals, most of them girls and youngsters, with 1000’s of others buried underneath the rubble.
The navy operation has additionally displaced nearly the whole 2.3 million inhabitants of the besieged territory.
About 1,140 individuals have been killed by Hamas in Israel within the October 7 assaults.