Israel general: Either reach a ceasefire or topple Hamas

A senior Israeli general has said Tel Aviv should either reoccupy the Gaza Strip or reach a settlement with Hamas there.

Brigadier-General Israel Ziv, a former commander of the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip, said: “The situation in Gaza requires Israel to make a clear decision, either to reach a settlement with Hamas or to reoccupy the entire enclave. In other words, reach a ceasefire or topple Hamas.”

In an interview with Maariv newspaper, Ziv said that Israel’s assassination policy against Hamas leaders and the local military operations “have only temporary temporal effect and can not solve the problem from its roots” because the situation in Gaza is “very complicated”, adding that the government is responsible for finding “a new strategy to change the status quo”.

“The Israeli current policy, which is based on responding to single events in Gaza Strip, no longer controls the field developments there. Therefore Israel is required to make a final decision: either to keep Hamas or not,” he said.

“We cannot ignore the existing situation in Gaza. Either, we give an opportunity for the settlement which they propose and see how useful it is in subjugating Hamas, or reoccupy the Strip and completely clean it up from weapons and kill whoever is at the top of Hamas leadership.”

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