ISRAEL’S Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant revealed the country’s three-phase plan for its war in Gaza.
For the first phase, the military will stage a military campaign with an aim to neutralize terrorists and destroy infrastructures linked to Hamas.
The next phase will involve rooting out “pockets of resistance” by the military.
The third and final phase is for Israel to stop claiming responsibility for any lives lost after the war as the military prepares for a ground invasion of the besieged enclave.
Gallant warned that Israel’s military options for Hamas are simple – it’s either unconditional surrender or death.
According to the US think tank Atlantic Council, Israel’s ground invasion will likely include more than 100,000 troops who will surround Gaza and conduct house-to-house operations, in addition to a naval blockade.
It can be noted that even before the looming ground offensive, Israel had already announced a “total” blockade of the war-torn Palestinian enclave, including a ban on food and water, with thousands of tons of much-needed aid stranded in the Rafah crossing – the only remaining border to let Gaza residents out of the enclave and for critical supplies to enter.
Limited aid flows to Gaza as Rafah border opens
Meanwhile, the first wave of much-needed humanitarian aid has entered Gaza after the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the besieged territory finally opened on Saturday.
More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tons of aid that were positioned near the crossing for days started heading into Gaza.
Of this number, only 20 trucks carrying water, food, medicines, and other supplies will be allowed to enter the tiny Palestinian territory of more than 2 million people.
Israeli authorities said that the war killed at least 1,400 people in the Jewish state while another 3,785 people have died in the neighboring Gaza, as per data from the enclave’s Ministry of Health.
