Gaza City push aims to end war fairly quickly, says Israeli PM Netanyahu

(Forelines) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that Israel thinks its next Gaza offensive would end the war “fairly quickly” and target the two remaining Hamas strongholds, according to Reuters report.

In a decision that sparked increased criticism both domestically and internationally, notably from a number of European nations, Israel approved the new plan on Friday to increase its military operations and seize control of Gaza City, the territory’s major metropolitan center, Reuters added.

As per Reuters, at a news conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu told international reporters that because Hamas would not put down its weapons, Israel had no option but to finish the job and crush the group.

Hamas announced that until an independent Palestinian state was formed, it will not disarm.

While its forces were getting ready to attack Gaza City, Netanyahu stated, quoted by Reuters that Israel was trying to expand aid distribution in a “humanitarian surge” being coordinated with Washington.

“The timeline that we set for the action is fairly quickly. We want, first of all, to enable safe zones to be established so the civilian population of Gaza City can move out,” Netanyahu further stated, cited by Reuters.

“I don’t want to talk about exact timetables, but we are talking in terms of a fairly short timetable, because we want to bring the war to an end. This is how we bring the war to an end,” as per Reuters.