JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the war against Hamas was almost over, although the fighting would continue until the Islamist group relinquishes control of the Palestinian territories.
At the same time, Netanyahu is sending troops north from Gaza to fight the Iran-backed Hezbollah group on Israel's northern border.
The point is simple. Now Israel and Hezbollah are going to war against SAM. As a result, there is no end in sight to the Gaza war.
The Israeli army's siege on the Gaza city of Rafah is getting increasingly tight. The fall of Rafah is now imminent. At that time Netanyahu had said that we do not need more troops in Gaza. That is why we are sending some troops north. Which is going to face Iran-backed Hezbollah.
In an interview to the pro-Netanyahu TV channel Channel-14, amid applause from the audience, Netanyahu said that the first thing we have to do is to protect our minds. Apart from this, we want to return millions of displaced Jews to their homes. Along with this, he said that now our second target is Iran-backed Hezbollah.
It is worth noting that the Gaza war started with Hamas' attack on a ceremony in southern Israel on 7 October and since then the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has also started sporadic shelling on Israel. But now it is becoming clear that there will be a war between the two. The possibility of a full-fledged war is also increasing. However, Hezbollah is much more powerful than Hamas. They have direct support from Iran. So there is every possibility of a war breaking out between the two.
Meanwhile, White House envoy Emma Hochstein met with Israeli and Lebanese officials last week to try to ease tensions. However, the war continued.
The Israeli Prime Minister said that he wants the dispute to be resolved through dialogue. But if this cannot be done then the solution will have to be found through other means.
Netanyahu's statements clearly indicate to observers that Israel is intent on evicting Palestinians from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the East Bank of the Jordan River.