Beijing, 31 Dec (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on 30 December that the Israeli army's military operation in the Palestinian Gaza Strip will continue for "many months." He also thanked the United States for its continued military assistance to Israel.
Netanyahu said at a press conference: "The war will continue for many more months. Our policy is clear: we will continue to fight until we achieve all our goals, the first and foremost goal being the elimination of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the release of all hostages. ”
This is a photograph of Israeli troops on the Israeli side of the Gaza border on December 27. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Jill Cohen Magen) In addition, Netanyahu said that the border between southern Gaza and Egypt must be completely under Israeli control, and "no other option will ensure the demilitarization (of the Gaza Strip) that we want."
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has been going on for nearly three months. The Gaza Strip is facing a serious humanitarian crisis under the continued heavy military attacks of the Israeli army, and the international community has strongly called for an end to the fighting and a ceasefire. According to figures released by the health department of the Gaza Strip on the 30th, there have been more than 2160,000 people have died in the fighting, including 165 in the last 24 hours. Most of the dead were women and children, and another 5More than 60,000 people have been injured, thousands are missing, and 85% of the population has been displaced.
According to Netanyahu, more than 8,000 Palestinian militants have died in the Gaza Strip. According to figures released by the Israeli army, 172 Israeli military personnel were killed during military operations in Gaza.
This December 25 IDF release shows Israeli ground forces conducting a military operation in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. At the press conference, Netanyahu thanked the United States for its continued support. In the face of the increasing number of civilians in Gaza and the intensifying humanitarian crisis, the US acknowledges that the Israeli army has carried out "indiscriminate bombing" in the Gaza Strip, but on the other hand, it continues to provide military assistance. The United States announced on the 29th that Secretary of State Antony Blinken bypassed congressional approval and approved "urgent" arms sales to Israel for the second time this month, involving an amount of about 1$500 million.
Regarding the possibility of another agreement between Israel and Hamas to release detainees, Netanyahu said that there has been "some loosening" after Hamas's repeated "ultimatums" were rejected by Israel, but at present there is still no high expectation of reaching an agreement.
Agence France-Presse reported on the 30th, citing a source close to Hamas, that a Hamas delegation discussed a set of plans proposed by the Egyptian side in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, on the 29th, including achieving a temporary ceasefire, reciprocal release of detainees and finally ending the conflict.
According to the Associated Press, Egypt has proposed a phased plan, and Hamas still insists on a ceasefire before discussing the release of detainees. Hamas senior Osama Hamdan said that Hamas has not yet given a final answer to Egypt's proposal. (Hui Xiaoshuang).