(Dan Tri) – The Israeli army announced that it will begin increasing raids on the Gaza Strip from October 21 and prepare for the next phase of the war against Hamas.
Israeli tanks near the Gaza border on October 20 (Photo: AFP).
`We will increase our attacks to minimize the danger to our forces in the next phase of the war. We will significantly increase our raids from today,` Israeli military spokesman
Mr. Hagari once again called on civilians in Gaza to evacuate from the north to the south to ensure safety amid escalating fighting between Israel and Hamas.
The above statement was made while Israel was said to be planning a ground attack campaign in Gaza.
`We will enter Gaza. We will carry out a mission to destroy Hamas’ facilities and infrastructure,` Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said.
The past two weeks of fighting between Israel have left nearly 6,000 people dead, including more than 4,300 in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said yesterday that the country will stop participating in Gaza after completing the military campaign on the ground and defeating Hamas.
An anonymous Israeli official said this approach would mean that in the future Gazans would not be allowed to enter Israel or work there.
Mr. Gallant also outlined a three-phase plan to destroy the Hamas forces controlling Gaza.
`We are in the first phase. Accordingly, we are carrying out a military campaign with air strikes followed by ground action with the aim of eliminating agents, destroying infrastructure
Israel controlled Gaza and built settlements here from 1967 to 2005. After that, Israel continued to provide basic utilities such as electricity and water to this territory of about 2 million people.
Bloomberg reported on October 21 that US and Israeli officials are secretly discussing the future of Gaza in the post-Hamas era.
