US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel yesterday for the fourth time since the outbreak of the war and met with Prime Minister Benjamin, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, National Camp Chairman Benny Gantz, Opposition Chairman Yair Lapid and the War Cabinet.
Blinken: "Israel cannot run the Gaza Strip" // Reuters
During a War Cabinet meeting Blinken attended, Defense Minister Yoav Galant said the military maneuver would take months. In response, Blinken told him, "I don't think you have months." The senior Israeli officials replied that they would continue the war until the achievements were completed, as decided by the cabinet at the beginning of the war.
Requirement for limited maneuverability
Blinken reiterated the US position that the IDF's expected maneuver in the southern Gaza Strip must be carried out in a way that does not cause a massive movement of the population. This demand makes the IDF's operational activity very difficult, and was therefore rejected by the War Cabinet.
Even if they wanted to, many of them would have nowhere to return to. Residents of the northern Gaza Strip leave south, Photo: AP
Israeli sources have made it clear that they will not reduce the expected maneuver in the southern Gaza Strip in a way that will not cause population movement. Israel Hayom has learned that even at a war cabinet meeting in which Blinken participated, he was unanimously told that the maneuver would be carried out in full according to operational need.
Defense Minister Yoav Galant told Blinken, "We greatly appreciate your personal commitment to this just war on terror, and we are going to fight Hamas until we win, no matter how long it takes. This is a just war. This is a war to put an end to Hamas, the ISIS of Gaza. And this is a war to bring the hostages home – it will take as long as it takes." Prime Minister Netanyahu said publicly, "We swore, I swore, to eliminate Hamas. Nothing will stop us."
"We're going to fight Hamas until we win, no matter how long it takes." Defense Minister Yoav Galant at the conference grounds, photo: Shmuel Buchris
Torch backs up
Opposition leader Yair Lapid backed the War Cabinet's position on the IDF's freedom of action when the IDF's maneuver in the south resumes. In his meeting with Blinken, he clarified his position that the IDF should go wherever Hamas terrorists are.
The IDF must go wherever Hamas terrorists are. Yair Lapid, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
After the meetings with the Israeli leadership, Blinken met Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Blinken avoided criticizing the PA's sympathy and lack of condemnation of the Hamas massacre, instead criticizing what he called "extremist settler violence for which responsibility must be taken."
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