Israel presses Gaza offensive in war it says will last ‘months’
- Israel’s defence minister said it will take months to destroy Hamas, predicting a drawn-out war
- US security envoy discussed possible transition to ‘lower intensity’ military operations in Gaza
Israel pressed its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday after telling key backer the United States that the war to crush Hamas will last “more than several months”.
The war began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Vowing to destroy Hamas and bring home an estimated 240 hostages taken by militants into Gaza, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has left swathes of the besieged territory in ruins.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the war has killed more than 18,700 people, mostly women and children.
The ministry said early Friday that dozens of people had been killed or injured in Israeli strikes on Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, while witnesses said several people had been killed in air strikes on Nuseirat in central Gaza.
Late Thursday in the southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, crowds of Palestinians used flashlights to search under the rubble of buildings for survivors following an Israeli strike.
