Israel's Minister without Portfolio in the War Cabinet, Benny Gantz, said on Tuesday that the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has been "defeated" militarily, but that its remnants will remain in the Gaza Strip for years to come.
"From a military point of view, Hamas is defeated. Its fighters have been eliminated or are in hiding," said the Israeli minister on Wednesday, six months into the war in the Palestinian enclave, noting that the Palestinian militia's capabilities have been "weakened", but that total victory will come "step by step".
On this point, Gantz stressed that Israel "will not stop" and that its troops will finally enter the city of Rafah (south), considered the last bastion of Hamas, but which is also home to more than a million Palestinians displaced in the context of the war.
The US Secretary of State declared last month that a major Israeli ground offensive on the southern city of Gaza would be "a mistake" and unnecessary to defeat the Palestinian Islamist movement.
"We will enter Rafah. We will return to Khan Yunis and act in Gaza. Wherever there are terrorist targets, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will be there," the war cabinet member stressed, according to The Times of Israel. Despite claiming a military victory over Hamas, Gantz stressed that the total defeat of the Palestinian militia will take longer and predicted that Israelis who are in school today will fight the militia in the future.
"Fighting Hamas will take time. The young people who are in high school now will continue to fight in the Gaza Strip, as well as in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and against Lebanon," said Gantz.
