Israel Plan To Eliminate Hamas Risks A 10-Year Long Conflict
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Raven Ruma
- . December 3, 2023
- . Update: December 4, 2023 11:56 am
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas in response to the Palestinian Islamist militant group’s brutal October 7 assault, and has unleashed an air and ground campaign that has killed at least 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, as per the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
“What is the total destruction of Hamas, and does anyone think it’s possible? If it is, the war will last 10 years,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN’s COP28 climate talks.
France Can’t Their Place In The Crisis
Macron highlighted the need for Israeli authorities to “define their objective and desired end state more precisely.” Analysts say his Middle East tour illustrates the difficulty his government is facing in finding a way to influence the raging conflict.
Agnes Levallois of the Institute for Mediterranean Middle East Research and Studies said, ” France and Macron are not really finding their place in the crisis.” His speech has come against a backdrop of renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Israel resumed shelling the besieged Palestinian enclave on Friday following the collapse of a temporary ceasefire, that had enabled the release of 80 Israeli hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Israel and Hamas blame each other for the breakdown of the truce.
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Israel Tells Gazans Move South
The Israeli military has repeatedly warned Gazans in the north of the territory to move south, compelling the population to shift into an even smaller living space, where food and water shortages have combined with a breakdown of services.
Life in the south of the Gaza Strip is a struggle. Mounds of rubbish now dot the landscape of southern Gaza, sprouting in the areas where millions of people have clustered in search of shelter and safety from violent Israeli airstrikes.
The UN has repeatedly warned of a health crisis. Last week, the World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus raised concerns over more than 100,000 cases of respiratory infections and almost 80,000 cases of diarrhoea being reported so far.
