Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant lays out Israel’s war plans and objectives in the Gaza Strip, speaking at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting in Tel Aviv, APA reports citing The Times of Israel.
“We are in the first phase, in which a military campaign is taking place with [airstrikes] and later with a [ground] maneuver with the purpose of destroying operatives and damaging infrastructure in order to defeat and destroy Hamas,” Gallant says.
He says the second phase will be continued fighting but at a lower intensity as troops work to “eliminate pockets of resistance.”
“The third step will be the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip, and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel and the residents of the [area surrounding Gaza],” he says.