The war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip will continue “throughout” 2024, the Israeli army spokesperson said.
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The army “must plan in advance, because we will be called upon for additional tasks and combat throughout this year,” Daniel Hagari announced to the press on Sunday evening.
He also insisted that tens of thousands of Israeli reservists will be needed for continued fighting, but that some of them will take a break from the war, to prepare for “protracted fighting.”
“Some reservists will return to their families and jobs this week,” assured Mr. Hagari, which “will allow them to regain strength for upcoming activities over the next year” (2024).
AFP
Furthermore, the fact that some of the 300,000 reservists will return to work for a certain time, “this will considerably lighten the burden on the economy”, affected by the war, according to him.
The army is planning the deployment of its troops in the coming months, he added.
The war between Israel and Hamas was sparked by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7 on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army has since carried out military operations in the territory to “annihilate” Hamas.
Since the start of the ground operation in Gaza on October 27, the army has lost 172 soldiers inside the Palestinian territory, some of them in incidents of so-called “friendly” fire, that is, from their own armed forces.
AFP