Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said on Thursday that his forces moved “within 24 hours to an increasing attack from the air, sea and land,” noting that the Israeli army began a fire attack with unusual intensity 24 hours after the start of the war.
In a press conference this evening, Gallant said that his forces are fully prepared, and that the ground military operation in Gaza will begin at the appropriate time when conditions are ready. He refused to answer a journalist’s question about the impact this would have on efforts to free prisoners held by the Hamas movement.
Galant added, “Our goals are accurate, and we carried out strikes against the infrastructure of the Hamas movement.” There will be other stages that we will implement and win as we create the conditions for the battle to continue.
In response to a question about the possibility of a confrontation with Iran, he said, “We are waging a war on the southern front against Hamas, and we are prepared for any development in the north. Hezbollah is suffering many losses. But it is not in our interest to expand the war,” stressing that Israel has no interest in a war with anyone. Another opponent other than Hamas.
Galant added, “We are going through difficult circumstances, and our war is to preserve the homeland, and we must win it.”
Regarding the issue of prisoners or detainees held by Al-Qassam, Gallant said that we have more than 200 missing and kidnapped people, and we will do our best to return them.
Gallant stated that we have 1,400 civilians and soldiers killed in battles and 224 abductees as well, and I am determined to make every effort to return the abductees (captured by Hamas) to their families.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday, Wednesday, that the Military Ministerial Council would unanimously determine the timing of the ground entry into the Gaza Strip, without mentioning a date for that.
For the 20th day, the Israeli army continues to target Gaza with intense air strikes that destroyed entire neighborhoods, killing 7,028 Palestinians, including 2,913 children, 1,709 women, and 397 elderly people, and wounding 18,484 people, in addition to more than 1,950 missing people under the rubble.
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