Attacks against Gaza could continue into 2025, says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly informed local council leaders from communities near Gaza yesterday that he foresees the attacks against Gaza extending into 2025.

According to the Times of Israel, an unsourced Channel 12 report covered the meeting at the Israeli army’s southern command headquarters in Beersheba, attended by other security cabinet ministers. There, Netanyahu shared the current assessment that suggests the attacks might continue into next year.

He also agreed to review an existing Defence Ministry framework providing financial assistance to Israeli residents willing to return to evacuated communities located 4-7 kilometres from the Gaza fence, the paper added.

However, the local council leaders informed Netanyahu that most residents are currently reluctant due to security concerns and therefore, requested a delay or extension of the return process until summer and the new school year, urging continued state funding for temporary accommodation. Netanyahu agreed to their request, assuring that financial assistance would still be available and instructing officials to prepare the required framework.

In his opening statements during the meeting, Netanyahu announced: “We are determined to rehabilitate the kibbutzim and communities in what is known as the so-called Gaza envelope area, to return the residents to their homes, and to ensure that the area thrives and grows far more than it was before the war.”

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since 7 October. At least 24,285 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 61,154 have been injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

According to the UN, 85 per cent of the population of Gaza is already internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 per cent of the enclave’s infrastructure is damaged or destroyed.

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