Israel Netanyahu: Hamas army soon to cease to exist

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes the main phase of the war against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip will soon be over. "We are moving towards the end of the phase of dismantling Hamas' terror army," he said in Jerusalem at a reception for cadets of the National Defense Academy. "We will continue to fight their remnants."

Netanyahu had previously visited the Gaza Division, which is currently deployed in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. He had seen "very considerable progress" there, he said. The offensive in Rafah on the border with Egypt is aimed at destroying the last major Hamas combat units. However, the Islamist militia remains militarily active in the form of smaller units.

The words of the Israeli head of government indicate that the Israeli army's major ground offensive in the Gaza Strip could soon come to an end. This began three weeks after the unprecedented massacre committed by Hamas and other extremist groups in southern Israel on October 7. The terrorist attack, which left 1,200 people dead on the Israeli side, triggered the Gaza war, which Israel initially launched with massive air strikes.

However, the end of the ground offensive would not necessarily mean an end to Israel's military involvement in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu and senior military officials have often pointed out that Israeli troops would remain in strategic locations in the sealed-off coastal area even after the phase of intense fighting. This would primarily include the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14-kilometer strip that runs along the border with Egypt near Rafah on the Gaza side.