Egypt’s Sisi: Israel’s goal of eliminating Hamas will take years

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said the declared goal of Israel’s war in Gaza is to liquidate Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups which will take years.

This came during his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Cairo yesterday when he stressed that a ground invasion of Gaza will lead to a large number of civilian casualties.

He also indicated that he had discussed with Macron efforts to “release more prisoners and hostages” from the Gaza Strip, which he said needs periods of calm.

For his part, Macron announced that a French military ship had been sent to “support” Gaza’s hospitals, but stressed that “nothing justifies Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel”, during which 31 French nationals were killed.

For the 19th day, the Israeli army continues to target Gaza with intense air strikes that destroyed entire neighbourhoods, leaving 6,546 Palestinians killed, including 2,704 children, 1,584 women, and wounding 17,439 people, in addition to more than 1,600 missing persons whose bodies remain trapped under the rubble of their homes.

READ: Israel likens Hamas to Daesh to justify its crimes: Left-wing Palestinian leader