Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant expected that the war on the Gaza Strip would continue in its current manner for at least another two months.
He indicated in an interview with the American news channel ABC News that Israel will fight in Gaza for several months to carry out cleansing operations and “eliminate pockets of terrorist resistance,” as he described it.
Gallant had previously stated, at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle and the launch of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, that this time this war would last a month or 3 months, and “in the end there will be no Hamas,” and he said that Israel was fighting “human animals” in Gaza.
He said that the only way to resume negotiations with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is for “Hamas to implement the original agreement and return the 15 women and two children it is still holding” hostage, without preconditions and nothing in return.
Deputy Head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri, said that “there will be no exchange of prisoners until the end of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and a comprehensive and final ceasefire.”
He stressed that “our Zionist prisoners will not be liberated until all our prisoners are liberated and after a ceasefire.”
During his interview with the American channel, Gallant confirmed that he is committed to returning the rest of the prisoners held by Hamas, whose number is estimated at more than 100 people.
He added, “The only way with Hamas is to use force. In the end, they will give you something… Hamas has two options: to die in the tunnels or on the roof, or to surrender without conditions.”
Gallant recalled the goals of the aggression against Gaza, which were to assassinate “the leader of Hamas in Gaza and the architect of October 7, Yahya Sinwar,” “breaking the chain of command of Hamas,” and ensuring that Hamas “no longer acts as a military organization that can launch organized attacks against Israel.” .
Two truces were reached between Hamas and Israel that lasted 7 days, in which a number of Palestinian and Israeli prisoners were exchanged and food aid was brought into the Gaza Strip. The truce ended last Friday.
The Israeli occupation army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, leaving 15,523 Palestinian martyrs and 41,316 wounded, in addition to massive destruction of infrastructure.
