Gaza must be ‘completely civilian’ but no quick options: ex-Israeli general
Global News
“This takes months. It's not a short operation,” said reserve Brig.-Gen. Amir Avivi, a former Israel Defense Forces deputy commander of the Gaza division
The Gaza Strip needs to be “completely civilian,” but ousting militant group Hamas from the besieged territory could take “months,” according to a former Israeli general who spoke as Tel Aviv prepares for an expected ground operation.
“This takes months. It’s not a short operation,” reserve Brig.-Gen. Amir Avivi, a former Israel Defense Forces deputy commander of the Gaza division, said in an interview with The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson on Sunday.
“And at the end of the day, the Gaza Strip needs to be a completely civilian area,” he said.
“No terror infrastructure at all in the Gaza Strip in the future.”
Israeli forces have positioned themselves along the border with Gaza and drilled for what Israel said would be a campaign by air, land and sea to dismantle Hamas.
Israel is retaliating against a deadly multi-front attack launched by Hamas on Israeli border towns on Oct. 7. More than 1,300 people were killed during and since Hamas’ attack, including five Canadians.
More than 2,450 people have been killed in Gaza in the last week, the region’s health ministry said Sunday.
Meanwhile, cross-border clashes have flared along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon in recent days. Israel says the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group has fired rockets and Israeli forces have responded with shelling.
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