Israel is moving into a “long” third phase of the war on Gaza

Jerusalem/Anatolia

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced on Monday that Israel would move into a “protracted” third phase of the war in the Gaza Strip.

Callant told the US newspaper “The Wall Street Journal” that Israeli forces would shift from what he called the “intensive maneuver phase of the war” to “various types of special operations,” for which no start date or details were specified. These functions.

But he warned that “the next chapter of the war will last a very long time.”

Although Israel has not officially announced the transition to a third-phase war, Israeli sources say the matter “will be on the agenda of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's meeting with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.” Blinken's fourth visit since the war began last October 7.

On Thursday, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation revealed that the army had “moved into the third phase of the war in parts of the Gaza Strip with small forces”.

According to Israeli media, the third phase requires “a move from intensive to specific bombing and the withdrawal of large numbers of forces from inside the Gaza Strip to the border”.

Blinken will arrive in Israel on Monday evening for a two-day visit, during which he will meet the war council on Tuesday, before traveling to Ramallah in the West Bank on Wednesday, as part of a tour of the region to discuss developments in the war on Gaza and prevent its escalation.

In this context, Gallant stressed in a statement to the American newspaper that “Israel will not abandon its goals of destroying Hamas, ending its control over Gaza and freeing the remaining hostages (in Gaza).”

He explained that Hamas's surprise attack on Israeli cities and military bases in the Gaza Strip on October 7 “severely shook Israelis' sense of security and profoundly changed the way they see the world around them.”

He said: “October 7 is the bloodiest day for the Jewish people since 1945. The world must understand that this is different. The Hamas attack on October 7 represents a major failure in deterrence.”

On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza launched Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” in response to “continuous attacks by Israeli forces and settlers on the Palestinian people, their property and their sanctuaries, particularly Al-Aqsa, in occupied East Jerusalem.” Mosque.

In response, the Israeli military launched a devastating war on Gaza, which as of Sunday had claimed 22,835 lives and wounded 58,416 people, most of them children and women, massive infrastructure destruction and an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to Palestinian and UN sources.

The message published on the official page of Anadolu Agency is a summary of a part of the message shown to subscribers via the News Streaming System (HAS). To register with the agency, please contact the following link.