Published October 20, 2023
Israel has revealed it is expecting a ‘three-phase’ war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the first time the country has set out a long-term plan to deal with its bloodiest conflict in decades.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli lawmakers that the IDF expects to start its three-phase war with airstrikes and ground manoeuvres.
The Israeli military then plans on moving onto defeating pockets of resistance from Hamas fighters.
Gallant said that once this has been completed, Israel’s ‘responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip’ will cease.
Currently, Israel controls around 90% of Gaza’s land and sea borders, and provides the Strip with much of its infrastructure, including electricity and water. Egypt controls Gaza’s southern border, and supports Israel’s blockade, seeing Hamas as a threat to its own safety and stability.
Israel has cut supplies to Gaza since war broke out between itself and Hamas, and has not yet allowed humanitarian aid to be passed into the region.
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SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12653619/Israel-reveals-plans-three-phase-war-Gaza-starting-airstrikes-ground-manoeuvres-moving-eradicate-pockets-resistance-ceasing-Israels-responsibility-life-Gaza-Strip.html
RELATED: Israel plans to sever links with Gaza after three-phase war
Official says ‘umbilical cord’ will be cut with worker crossings stopped
UN secretary-general António Guterres inspects aid for Palestinians at an airport in Egypt on Friday © Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
Published October 20, 2023
Israel plans to cut ties with the Gaza Strip when its war with Hamas is over, officials said on Friday, as the country’s troops prepare for an expected ground offensive in the coastal enclave. In the most explicit comments yet on the government’s strategy, defence minister Yoav Gallant told the Knesset foreign and defence committee that Israel would no longer have “responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip” once the war was over. He added that the conflict, which he said would take place in three phases, would create “a new security reality” for Israeli citizens. Israeli forces have been bombarding Gaza since Hamas militants staged the deadliest-ever attack on Israeli soil almost two weeks ago. But while officials have made clear they intend to destroy Hamas, they have not detailed their plans for the impoverished enclave after the war.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but in the years since it has continued to provide some electricity to the enclave. It has also allowed a limited number of Gazans into Israel to work, and some goods to enter the territory from Israel. A second Israeli official said: “Israel will not be part of the solution in terms of giving [Gazans] work. We’ve disconnected the umbilical cord.” The official added that the crossings from Gaza to Israel that functioned before the war would not be reopened, saying: “That’s over.”
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SOURCE: https://www.ft.com/content/d583f2eb-44f3-48cc-9910-619eac68dcef
RELATED: Gaza under Israeli siege: Bread lines, yellow water and nonstop explosions
Published October 20, 2023
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — There are explosions audible in the cramped, humid room where Azmi Keshawi shelters with his family in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis. The bombardments keep coming closer, he says, and they’re wreaking death and destruction.
Keshawi, his wife, two sons, two daughters and tiny grandchildren are trying to survive inside.
The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for a devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel almost two weeks ago and the Keshawi family’s sense of desperation is growing. Food is running out and Israel has so far stopped humanitarian attempts to bring it in.
The family hasn’t showered in days since Israel cut off Gaza’s water and fuel supplies. They get drinking water from the U.N. school, where workers hand out jerrycans of water from Gaza’s subterranean aquifer to desperate families. It tastes salty. The desalination stations stopped working when the fuel ran out.
